The World Played Chess: A Novel by Robert Dugoni

 

 

“A fearless and sensitive coming-of-age story. I loved it.” ―Mark Sullivan, bestselling author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky and The Last Green Valley.

Bestselling author Robert Dugoni returns with an emotionally arresting follow-up to The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell.

In 1979, Vincent Bianco has just graduated high school. His only desire: collect a little beer money and enjoy his final summer before college. So he lands a job as a laborer on a construction crew. Working alongside two Vietnam vets, one suffering from PTSD, Vincent gets the education of a lifetime. Now forty years later, with his own son leaving for college, the lessons of that summer―Vincent’s last taste of innocence and first taste of real life―dramatically unfold in a novel about breaking away, shaping a life, and seeking one’s own destiny.

 

Chess not Checkers by Tony Lindsay

 

 

Chess not Checkers is a teen novel with adult adventures and situations. The novel’s thrills happen in both urban and rural environments. A twenty-year-old, Thaddeus Adams, is looking back to when he was a self-described “nerd” who stood up to a brutal bully. Earl Jacobson is gang affiliated and heartless, and he adds layers of difficulties to Thaddeus’ life that no teen should have to endure. The challenges require Thaddeus’ strategic planning which shears off layers of his nerd qualities. At times, we see Thaddeus flat on his back, and at other times we see him standing with confidence; he learns to depend on family, community, and friends to survive. Chess not Checkers is sure to become a teen classic.