Alex and the Wednesday Chess Club Book

Alex first learned to play chess when he was four years old. He loved it. He loved the pieces, the challenge, and the sweet taste that winning left in his mouth. He loved it until he played a chess game with moldy old Uncle Hooya...and lost. Then Alex decided to give up chess for good.

Now in third grade Alex wants to give chess another try. He joins the chess club and discovers that chess is fun again. He plays his friends, he listens to the coach, and he practices at school, at home, and on the computer. Alex is a chess maniac! All of this practice is leading up to the big tournament, where Alex finds himself face-to-face with Little Cousin Hooya. Memories of his earlier defeat return, but now is his chance to finally beat a Hooya. Is Alex up to the challenge?

Janet Wong's lyrical text, complemented by Stacey Schuett's bright illustrations, will inspire chess players of all ages to practice, practice, practice — and to avoid moldy old Uncle Hooya!

Mary Loftus - Children's Literature

Alex plays chess at the age of 4 and loves it, "so who knows why his mother/made him play his next-door neighbor's/moldy old Uncle Hooya." Who knows, indeed? That is the first question to go unanswered. But play Uncle Hooya he does, and loses, and quits the game until 3rd grade. In 3rd grade Alex joins the chess club, and Coach B. writes his "Top 10 Chess Tips" on the board, #10 being: Don't Play Moldy Old Uncle Hooya! How does Coach B. know about Uncle Hooya? Another question that distracts from Alex's story. Alex enjoys chess club, although he loses consistently. What is different about losing for Alex now? The reader is not told, and Alex goes on to participate in a chess tournament, where the importance of cheese puffs is distracting, and never explained. The tournament ends with Alex defeating Little Hooya, Uncle's cousin, but why is the outcome important if the reader does not understand the significance of Uncle Hooya? He seems to be just a vehicle for the book's final line, Alex's triumphant, "Hoo Ya!" This book is written in verse, divided into 8 short chapters, and could have included more about chess and Alex's relationship to the game, and less about Uncle Hooya and cheese puffs. 2004, Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, Ages 7 to 11.