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Back Queen Move Save as PDF
Chapters (64)
  1. Book Description
  2. About Kennedy Ryan
  3. Also from Kennedy Ryan
  4. Acknowledgments from the Author
  5. Book Description
  6. Dedication
  7. Prologue
  8. Part One
  9. Chapter One
  10. Chapter Two
  11. Chapter Three
  12. Chapter Four
  13. Chapter Five
  14. Chapter Six
  15. Chapter Seven
  16. Part Two
  17. Chapter Eight
  18. Chapter Nine
  19. Chapter Ten
  20. Chapter Eleven
  21. Chapter Twelve
  22. Chapter Thirteen
  23. Chapter Fourteen
  24. Chapter Fifteen
  25. Chapter Sixteen
  26. Chapter Seventeen
  27. Chapter Eighteen
  28. Chapter Nineteen
  29. Chapter Twenty
  30. Chapter Twenty-One
  31. Chapter Twenty-Two
  32. Chapter Twenty-Three
  33. Chapter Twenty-Four
  34. Chapter Twenty-Five
  35. Chapter Twenty-Six
  36. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  37. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  38. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  39. Chapter Thirty
  40. Chapter Thirty-One
  41. Chapter Thirty-Two
  42. Chapter Thirty-Three
  43. Chapter Thirty-Four
  44. Chapter Thirty-Five
  45. Chapter Thirty-Six
  46. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  47. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  48. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  49. Chapter Forty
  50. Chapter Forty-One
  51. Chapter Forty-Two
  52. Chapter Forty-Three
  53. Chapter Forty-Four
  54. Chapter Forty-Five
  55. Chapter Forty-Six
  56. Chapter Forty-Seven
  57. Chapter Forty-Eight
  58. Chapter Forty-Nine
  59. Epilogue
  60. Author’s Note
  61. An excerpt from The Kingmaker by Kennedy Ryan
  62. Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Seven
  63. Discover the World of 1001 Dark Nights
  64. Special Thanks

“You see them all the time, though.” My insides are heavy like there’s a roll of pennies at the bottom of my belly.

“Mama says holidays and a few weeks for summer’s not enough. She wants to be closer to my bubbe.”

Thinking about Ezra moving makes my stomach go all swimmy and my eyes burn and my throat tight. He’s my best friend. We even have the same birthday. He can’t leave.

“M-m-maybe your g-grandmother could m-m-move here.” When I get nervous or upset, my tongue “skips,” and I want to bite it clean in half. My speech therapist tells me to just take a deep breath and slow down before I talk. I forget sometimes, but Ezra never makes fun of me like some of the other kids do.

“Bubbe is never leaving New York,” Ezra says. “She wants me to Bar Mitzvah.”

I’ve learned a lot about Jewish traditions from the Sterns—enough to know that’s a big deal.

“Are you gonna?” I ask, glad my tongue is cooperating again.

“I guess.” Ezra shrugs. “I’d have to start going to Hebrew school every day after school.”

“Crap.” I relish the word my mother won’t let me say. “What about chess? You just started competitions.”

“I’ll still play chess. It’s a lot of time, but Mom says the busier I am, the less trouble I’ll get into.”

And the less time he’ll have to play, to spend with me. I look around the park, empty now that the sun has set. The streetlight blinks to life, reminding us it’s time to go home. Soon Mama will walk to the front porch and yell my name, telling the whole neighborhood I’ll come home if I know what’s good for me.

I take off running across the playground, willing to risk it to have a few more minutes with Ezra.

“L-l-let’s swing!”

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Ezra

12 Years Old

Be strong, be very strong, and we will strengthen each other.

Hazak, Hazak, Venithazek.

The Hebrew words turn over in my head, sloshing with Outkast’s lyrics pouring through the headphones fitted over my yarmulke as I walk home. This is my life—all the influences and interests colliding, conflicting, making sense and chaos. Bubbe wants me to become Bar Mitzvah, so I’m playing crazy catch-up, attending Hebrew school three days a week after school. I practice chess the other two.