Not an Easy Win

Contents Cover Other Titles Title Page Copyright Contents Dedication Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-one Chapter Twenty-two Chapter Twenty-three Chapter Twenty-four Chapter Twenty-five Chapter Twenty-six Chapter Twenty-seven Chapter Twenty-eight Chapter Twenty-nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-one Chapter Thirty-two Chapter Thirty-three Chapter Thirty-four Chapter Thirty-five Chapter Thirty-six Chapter Thirty-seven Chapter Thirty-eight Chapter Thirty-nine Chapter Forty Chapter Forty-one Chapter Forty-two Chapter Forty-three Chapter Forty-four Chapter Forty-five Author’s Note Acknowledgments About the Author Landmarks Cover Cover Title Page Contents Start Copyright Print Page List ii iii iv v 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 241 242 243 244 245 247 249 
 
 
 
 
 ALSO BY CHRYSTAL D. GILES
 Take Back the Block
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
 Text copyright © 2023 by Chrystal D. Giles
 Cover art copyright © 2023 by Xia Gordon
 All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
 Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
 Visit us on the Web! rhcbooks.com
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 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
 Name: Giles, Chrystal D., author.
 Title: Not an easy win / Chrystal D. Giles.
 Description: First edition. | New York: Random House, [2023] | Audience: Ages 10 and up. | Summary: Nothing has gone right for twelve-year-old Lawrence since his Pop went away, but after getting expelled from school for fighting he discovers the world of chess and things begin to change.
 Identifiers: LCCN 2022003925 (print) | LCCN 2022003926 (ebook) | ISBN 978-0-393-17521-7 (trade) | ISBN 978-0-393-17522-4 (lib. bdg.) | ISBN 978-0-393-17523-1 (ebook)
 Subjects: CYAC: Chess—Fiction. | Recreation centers—Fiction. | African Americans—Fiction.
 Classification: LCC PZ7.1.G5529 No 2023 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.G5529 (ebook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
 Ebook ISBN 9780593175231
 Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
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 ep_prh_6.0_142549205_c0_r0
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 Cover
 Also by Chrystal D. Giles
 Title Page
 Copyright
 Dedication
 
 
 Chapter One
 
 
 Chapter Two
 
 
 Chapter Three
 
 
 Chapter Four
 
 
 Chapter Five
 
 
 Chapter Six
 
 
 Chapter Seven
 
 
 Chapter Eight
 
 
 Chapter Nine
 
 
 Chapter Ten
 
 
 Chapter Eleven
 
 
 Chapter Twelve
 
 
 Chapter Thirteen
 
 
 Chapter Fourteen
 
 
 Chapter Fifteen
 
 
 Chapter Sixteen
 
 
 Chapter Seventeen
 
 
 Chapter Eighteen
 
 
 Chapter Nineteen
 
 
 Chapter Twenty
 
 
 Chapter Twenty-one
 
 
 Chapter Twenty-two
 
 
 
 
 
 FOR MY GRANDMOTHER HENRIETTA, THE CENTER OF MY VILLAGE
 
 
 
 
 CHAPTER ONE
 
 
 
 
 
 Expelled. I was pretty sure that meant I was being kicked out of school—forever.
 Principal Spacey didn’t even bother to look at me when he handed the sentence down. I’d been warned after my last fight: “The next time you walk into my office will be your last,” he’d said.
 That was just four weeks ago, when I’d had six fists pounding my head into the pavement. I wouldn’t call that a fight; it was more like a beatdown. This