This is the true story of how Judit Polgár captivated the world as she battled to become the youngest chess grandmaster in history!
The queen of chess, Judit Polgár, dazzled the world as a prodigy, winning tournaments, gold medals, and defeating eleven world champions, including Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen. At her peak, Judit was rated the eighth best chess player in the world.
But before these tremendous successes, Judit burst onto the chess scene as a ferocious, child competitor. Beating adults by five-years-old, and winning international tournaments by age nine, Judit was destined for greatness. Follow her incredible journey as she strives for chess immortality, hunting to become the youngest chess grandmaster in history.
The charming, chalk-like digital illustrations show a girl with a passion and focus on her craft, displaying how ordinary her life was outside of the world of competitive chess playing. Polgár was a girl who loved swimming, cracking jokes, and spending time with her sisters, even as she was becoming a rising star in the chess world. The picture book style of the biography turns the story into something of a fairy tale.
From the intriguing jacket art onward, viewers will be drawn to the many moods expressed in Lewis' handsome, occasionally amusing illustrations. Wallmark, whose previous picture-book biographies include Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine (2015) and Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code (2017), has a knack for making her subjects accessible to kids. Dispelling the notion that women are inferior chess players, this biographical picture book spotlights a triumphant child/heroine.
