The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl's Rise from an African Slum

By Tim Crothers

Phiona Mutesi, is a 15-year-old girl born and raised in a miserable slum called Katwe in Kampala, Uganda. She sleeps in a decrepit mud hut with her mother and four siblings and struggles to find a single meal each day. Phiona has been in and out of school her whole life because her mother cannot afford to send her, so she is only now learning to read and write. Phiona Mutesi is also one of the top chess players in the world.

One day in 2005, while desperately searching for food, Phiona followed her brother to a mission church where she met Robert Katende, another child of the Ugandan slums, who works for an American organization that offers relief and religion through sports. Robert introduced Phiona to the game of chess and within months he discovered her immense talent. By the age of 11, in 2007, Phiona was her country's junior chess champion and at 15, her country's national champion. In September of 2010 she traveled to Siberia, just her second time ever on an airplane, to compete in the Chess Olympiad, the world's most prestigious team chess event. While there, Phiona proved herself to be on par with the greatest players in the sport and her goal is to one day become a grandmaster, the most elite title in chess, and to blaze a trail out of Katwe that other children in Robert's chess community can follow.

To be African is to be an underdog in the world. To be Ugandan is to be an underdog in Africa. To be from Katwe is to be an underdog in Uganda. And to be a girl is to be an underdog in Katwe. The Queen of Katwe is the ultimate underdog story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 9, 2012
• ISBN: 9780307360984

Tim Crothers

Tim Crothers is a former senior writer at Sports Illustrated. He is the author of The Queen of Katwe: One Girl’s Triumphant Path to Becoming a Chess Champion and The Man Watching, the biography of University of North Carolina women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance, and coauthor of Hard Work, the autobiography of UNC basketball coach Roy Williams. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with his wife and two children.

Reviews for The Queen of Katwe

[helengress · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The author is a former Sports Illustrated writer; the main character is a child who lives in a slum of Uganda filled with poverty, AIDS, and destitution- with no knowledge of the world beyond. By chance, Phiona develops an interest in Chess and takes her to international competitions and fame as she competes in the Chess Olympiad in Sudan, and Russia. Fascinating story!

[rosecityreader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It is impossible to describe The Queen or Katwe without using the word inspiring. No wonder they are making a Disney movie about Phiona Mutesi, a nine-year-old Ugandan girl living in the Katwe slum who became a world chess champion by the time she was 18. It that doesn't inspire, nothing does. This is a terrific read for anyone and a particularly good choice for a graduation gift.

[vivienner_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is not a rags to riches story although it is a success story. The author states that Katwe is the poorest slum in the world. His staggering description of poverty certainly supports that. Crothers account begins with Katwe's beginnings, Phiona's family and forebears, and covers typlcal life in this vast slum. It is heartbreaking and at the same time inspiring. When twelve-year-old Phiona Mutesi went to a mission hoping for food, she learned to play chess, tutored by a four-year-old girl. Her success opened doors but it was a tough road. At first the chess organization in Uganda refused to let her compete in tournaments because of where she lived, her poor clothing, her lack of education. Later they saw her as one of the few champions capable of getting Uganda on the sports map of the world. There are so few sports successes that a number of Ugandans are even looking back fondly at the days of Idi Amin when the whole world knew Uganda. Phiona's first tournament meant her first ride in a car, her first time out of Katwe; later, her first flight, her first time in a hotel provided another first - sleeping in a bed. After all her success she returned to live with her mother and siblings in a shack in Katwe. She still eats only once per day, if she's lucky. There is still no choice.Even though the book is not particularly well-written, my heart goes out to the children of Katwe and to Phiona. I will never forget her. For that reason I'm giving it five stars.

[ravenswoodpublishi-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Book Title: "The Queen of Katwe”Author: Tim CrothersPublished By: ScribnerAge Recommended: 17+Reviewed By: Kitty BullardRaven Rating: 5Review: This non-fiction novel is a true gem. The telling of this amazingly powerful story will bring tears to yor eyes. There is an abundance of inspiration in this novel that makes everyone want to stand up and cheer. Phiona Mutesi’s story to rise above is one you won’t soon forget!

[westfargolibrary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Phiona lives in Katwe, Uganda – a slum where floods bring raw sewage inside people’s shacks, electricity is too expensive for most residents, and women are valued for sex and childcare. This is where one of the best chess players in the world lives. Phiona is able to help support her family with the money she earns playing chess, but despite her success she still lives in the Katwe. She dreams of “living in a home where all the suffering, all the challenges we have been through would be over.” This is an inspiring story of a young woman’s triumph!