I’m absolutely delighted to be able to reveal the cover of Check Mates, Stewart Foster’s third novel after the success of The Bubble Boy and All the Things That Could Go Wrong, which will be published on the 27th June 2019 by Simon & Schuster Children’s.
Check Mates – Stewart Foster
Felix School isn’t a problem child.
He’s a child with a problem…
Felix’s ADHD makes it hard for him to concentrate and his grades are slipping. Everyone keeps telling him to try harder, but no one seems to understand just how hard he finds it.
When Mum suggests Felix spends time with his grandfather, Felix can’t think of anything worse. Granddad hasn’t been the same since Grandma died, and he’s always trying to teach Felix boring chess.
But sometimes the best lessons come in the most unexpected of places, and Granddad soon shows Felix that there’s everything to play for.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
ISBN: 9781471172236
Number of pages: 368
‘Funny and heartfelt with a cunning twist. Stewart Foster is a grandmaster.’
Ross Welford
‘An inspirational underdog story and a chilling mystery! A winning combination.’ David Solomons
Stewart Foster
Author photo © Tallulah Foster
Stewart Foster is the author of one novel for adults, We Used to be Kings and was one of the Observer’s New Faces of Fiction for 2014. Stewart was named a New Author to Watch by The Guardian and was an Amazon Rising Star for his adult novel, published in the UK. He lives in Bath.
His first novel for children, The Bubble Boy, is about eleven-year-old Joe, whose medical condition means that he has to live permanently inside hospital in a germ-free ‘bubble’. But then someone new enters his world and Joe is given opportunities he had previously only dreamt of – but are they worth the risk?
Stewart’s second novel for children, All the Things That Could Go Wrong, was published in June 2017.
Stewart’s third novel for children, Check Mates, publishes in 2019.
Praise for All the Things That Could Go Wrong
‘A moving, humane, funny portrait of two very different boys discovering what connects us all.’
Kiran Milwood Hargrave
‘It’s amazing!’
Ross Welford
‘I loved it.’
Lisa Thompson
‘A touching, funny, gripping read that tackles important issues in a sensitive and thoroughly enjoyable way. Highly recommended.’
Stuart Robinson
‘A timely story of courage and reminder of what we all share.’
Christopher Edge
‘Powerful and warm … this will linger long in the mind.’
Guardian
Praise for The Bubble Boy,
Winner of the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Award in 2016‘Poignant, hopeful and heartbreaking.’
Fiona Noble – Children’s Editor, The Bookseller
‘Deeply moving and utterly gripping . . . Stewart Foster carries off an astonishing feat of storytelling in this exceptional book’
Julia Eccleshare, lovereading.co.uk‘A gripping and deeply moving book.’
Jamila Gavin
‘One thing we know about good books is their amazing ability to inspire empathy in the reader; to explore ideas and viewpoints that arise from experiences that are out of our own realm. The Bubble Boy does this with warmth, quirkiness and a light-hearted touch.’
Guardian
Leo Nickolls
Leo Nickolls is a freelance book cover designer and illustrator with extraordinary talents. Some of his work includes covers for Stewart Foster’s All the Things That Could Go Wrong Joanna Nadin’s & Anthony McGowan’s Everybody Hurts, Chris Womersley’s City Of Crows, Allegra Goodman’s The Chalk Artist, and the recent 40th Anniversary Edition of Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia.
You can find out more about Leo at his website or by following him on Twitter: @leonickolls
Check Mates is available to pre-order online or from any good independent bookshop.
Pre-order: Pre-order your copy now from Amazon, Hive, Waterstones & WHSmith now!
Big thanks to Stewart and all at Simon & Schuster for giving me the wonderful opportunity to reveal this fantastic cover for what I’m sure is going to be another wonderful addition to Stewart’s catalogue! I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy!
Mr E
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