
May the Best Player Win
Penguin Young Readers Group · Hardcover · September 17, 2024
The game is on in this fun-filled middle grade debut about chess, girl power, and performance anxiety in sports, perfect for fans of Kelly Yang and Celia C.
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- Who it’s for
- Chess competition gets tangled with team loyalty, confidence, and the pressure to win.
- Themes
- Chess and competition, Performance anxiety, Girls' recognition in sports
- Pacing
- Mixed
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Start with this bookAbout this book
The game is on in this fun-filled middle grade debut about chess, girl power, and performance anxiety in sports, perfect for fans of Kelly Yang and Celia C. Pérez! The clock is ticking for May Li, whose middle-school chess team just earned a victory at the state championship—and with it, a ticket to nationals. What’s even more exciting is that May got an award for being the top female player and a splashy feature in the biggest chess magazine in the country.
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May should be thrilled. But some of her teammates, including her supposed-to-be-friend Ralph, aren’t too pleased with the attention she’s getting—and they’re even questioning her skills. Backed into a corner, but not one to back down, May makes a move as bold as any of her chess tactics: She bets Ralph she can win the school’s internal tournament and be chosen as team captain for nationals. The crown is May’s for the taking . . . except she’s starting to crumble under the weight of everyone’s expectations. Anxious feelings begin to affect her performance and, what’s worse, eat away at her love for the game. Now May is left to wonder: Can you still play for fun when you’re playing to win?
When Winning Weighs
Chess competition gets tangled with team loyalty, confidence, and the pressure to win.
Come here for
- Chess, rivalry, and the question of when winning stops being fun.
- A young player’s confidence tested by expectations.
Expect
- A middle-grade story about pressure and finding joy in competition.
- Team tensions alongside chess tournament stakes.
Where it sits
| Games | 85% |
|---|---|
| Self-Esteem & Resilience | 38% |
| US: Asian American Stories | 33% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- US: Asian American Stories
- Games
- Friendship
- Authors
- Kyla Zhao
- Publisher
- Penguin Young Readers Group
- Published
- September 17, 2024
- Format
- Hardcover
- Theme
- Chess and competition · Performance anxiety · Girls' recognition in sports
- Reading lane
- US: Asian American Stories