The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl Audiobook (Free)

Now a major motion picture starring Academy Award champion Lupita Nyong’o and David Oyelowo, directed by Mira Nair.

The “astonishing” (THE BRAND NEW York Times Book Review) and “inspirational” (Shelf Awareness) true story of Phiona Mutesi-a teenage chess prodigy through the slums of Uganda.

1 day in 2005 while looking for food, nine-year-old Ugandan Phiona Mutesi followed her sibling to a dusty veranda where she met Robert Katende.

Katende, a war refugee turned missionary, had an improbable fantasy: on the subject of The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Existence, Chess, and One Extraordinary Gal to empower children in the Katwe slum through chess-a video game so foreign there is no word for it in their local language. Laying a chess­board in the dirt, Robert began to teach. At first children came for a free plate of porridge, but many grew to like the game that-like their daily lives-requires persevering against great hurdles. Of these kids, one gal stood out as an tremendous talent: Phiona.

By age eleven Phiona was her country’s junior champion, and at fifteen, the national champ. Now a female Candidate Master-the first feminine titled player in her country’s history-Phiona dreams of becoming a Grandmaster, one of the most elite level in chess. But to attain that goal, she must grapple with everyday living in one of the world’s most unstable countries. The Queen of Katwe is normally a “remarkable” (NPR) and “riveting” (NY Post) book that presents how “Phiona’s tale transcends the restrictions of the chessboard” (Robert Hess, US Grandmaster).