Lisa

          Lisa by Jesse Kraai is a very unique book. I am pretty sure that it is the only chess novel to be published. Jesse was on my SF Mechanics team and was kind enough to give me an autographed copy of his book. GM Kraai took some time off from chess to write this book. It is based on the story of Igor Ivanov, as it says on Jesse's website: http://jessekraai.com/.

          The book is about a girl named Lisa who starts chess as one of the many things that her mom signs her up for. She plays a tournament and wins money for coaching. She approaches a grandmaster to try to improve. Throughout the book, she faces many struggles, both personal and in chess. At times the book became confusing due to the alternate world Lisa went into, however if you read slowly, you will understand. Her journal is an important symbol in the story. I have met some of the people mentioned in the book, as it takes place in Northern California. The book is so believable that I had to send an e-mail to Jesse Kraai confirming if it was fictional or not! I highly recommend this book for the detailed descriptions and the strong emotions that Lisa goes through. It is very interesting to see how Lisa copes with all of her problems, like in real life.