Queen of the Tiles

February 15, 2022
Returning to the Scrabble tournament where her best friend died a year earlier conjures up lingering trauma for a teen competitor. Sixteen-year-old Najwa Bakri has suffered from panic attacks, memory gaps, intrusive negative thoughts, and an obsession with her late friend Trina Low's Instagram account. At last year's Word Warrior Weekend, Trina collapsed and died in a high-stakes game, leaving her opponent, Josh Tan, the tournament winner. Trina, a wealthy, effervescent social media influencer, was dubbed the Queen of the Tiles for her Scrabble skills. Najwa, a short, chubby hijabi from Kuala Lumpur, has a passion for learning the meanings of words rather than just memorizing letter combinations like many contestants. Surrounded by their Scrabble circle--Josh; Mark, Trina's boyfriend; nonbinary Shuba; Singaporean Ben, who had a crush on Trina; Emily, who was caught cheating during a game; Puteri, Mark's ex-girlfriend; and Yasmin, Trina's childhood friend--Najwa remembers her therapist's advice and struggles to maintain emotional equilibrium. It's bad enough when Instagram stories appear from Trina's account containing scrambled letters spelling ominous words like REGICIDE and JANIFORM. But when Najwa starts receiving cryptic, chilling DMs supposedly from Trina, it's even worse. Mark convinces her to join him in investigating whether Trina was actually murdered. The tense, evenly paced mystery unfolds against the fascinating backdrop of competitive Scrabble with a cast of well-rounded characters who reflect Malaysia's ethnic diversity. Interesting game trivia and vocabulary add to the originality. An absorbing mystery that explores friendship, grief, mental health, and wordplay. (Mystery. 12-18)

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April 18, 2022
Bringing to mind The Queen’s Gambit, Alkaf’s (The Weight of Our Sky) intense Malaysia-set murder mystery finds brown-skinned hijabi Najwa Bakri, 16, returning to the Scrabble tournament where her best friend, “Queen of the Tiles” Trina Low, died during a match one year prior. Still recovering from the trauma of Trina’s unexplainable sudden death, and navigating anxiety, panic attacks, and dissociative amnesia, Najwa is determined to become the new Scrabble royal in Trina’s honor. Najwa’s not the only one, though. Trina’s hot-tempered former boyfriend Mark, Mark’s reserved ex-girlfriend Puteri, distant and calculating Josh, and Trina’s bubbly childhood friend Yasmin, all 16, are also after the title. But when cryptic anagrams start posting to Trina’s Instagram, and secrets about last year’s tournament and the high-stakes world of competitive Scrabble come to a head, the group must decipher the anagrams and confront the mysterious circumstances behind Trina’s death. Clever chapter openings feature words alongside their Scrabble point values, and their definitions foreshadow the action in this carefully plotted drama that explores coping with loss as well as grief’s sometimes frustratingly nonlinear progression. Ages 12–up. Agent: Victoria Marini, Irene Goodman Literary.

May 1, 2022
Grades 8-11 A year after watching her vibrant best friend, Trina, keel over dead at a Scrabble tournament, Najwa has returned to the scene to claim the title Trina left behind--Queen of the Tiles. Beset by anxiety since the tragedy, Najwa knows this weekend-long tournament will be triggering, but she has no idea how much Trina will still be a part of the proceedings. Set in Malaysia, the story transports readers to a hotel filled with hormonal teenage word nerds. As Najwa reconnects with old friends and rivals, she is shocked when a new Instagram post from Trina's account appears, showing letters that anagram to REGICIDE. Could Trina's death have actually been murder? As the cryptic posts continue, Najwa joins a few others determined to find out what really happened the day Trina died. Alkaf gives equal space to unravelling the mystery and Najwa's innerworkings, from coping with anxiety to acknowledging Trina's flaws. Suspicious characters, red herrings, a cutthroat atmosphere, and plenty of obscure Scrabble words intersect to form an engaging mystery with a compelling protagonist. Bingo.

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May 1, 2022

Gr 7-10-After Trina "Queen of the Tiles" Low dies suddenly in the middle of a heated Scrabble championship, her friend Najwa backs away from the Scrabble circuit as she grieves. Fast forward to the same competition a year later in Kuala Lumpur, where she is determined to claim the empty throne in Trina's honor. As the championship weekend kicks off, dark enigmatic messages emerge from the dead girl's Instagram account, implying foul play. Najwa and some of her Scrabble cohorts investigate to bring justice for Trina. Secrets begin unraveling, providing clues and red herrings as to who is responsible for the demise of the former champion. Alkaf's protagonist is Malaysian and a hijabi Muslim woman, like herself. The cast encompasses lesser-represented South Asian characters in YA lit, including Chinese and Indian in a Malaysian setting. Mental health is also explored via therapy, panic attacks, and grief. The author provides content warnings for on-page death; descriptions of anxiety, PTSD, and panic attacks; and discussions of grief and loss. The fast-paced plot will have even the most reluctant of readers turning pages to uncover the culprit. Word nerds will embrace the puzzle references and attempt to solve them. A special treat is each chapter heading, which contains a Scrabble word, numeric value, and a definition that foreshadows the ensuing chapter. VERDICT Genius wordplay, fantastic representation, and a tense whodunit make this one to recommend.-Lisa Krok

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