Шах и мат среди звёзд

Tyto dvenadtsat let y, poka ego rodytely yzuchayut tayny Vselennoy, on pytaetsya postych zemnye ystyny. Poroy eto byvaet neprosto. Ved dazhe ego matematycheskyy razum ne vsegda mozhet uporyadochyt khaos, chto tsaryt vokrug. S tekh por kak mama Tyto uletela na «Novom Voyadzhere» k dalyokym zvyozdam, papa Tyto dnyamy naprolet sydyt, utknuvshys v knygu, ne zamechaya nychego vokrug. Ykh myr pogruzylsya v vyazkuyu tyshynu, kotoruyu narushayut lysh vykhodky Vyky, podrugy Tyto, y lazanya babushky Yrmy. Chtoby vstryakhnut papu Tyto y obratyt ego vnymanye na myr vokrug, Vyky tayno zapysyvaet ego na shakhmatnyy turnyr, khotya tot ne tolko ne umeet ygrat, no y ne vykhodyt yz doma. Na pomoshch Tyto y Vyky prykhodyt ekstsentrychnyy sosed dedushka Mekhanyk – master na vse ruky, pokhozhyy na Eynshteyna y sposobnyy pochynyt chto ugodno «za 38 sekund». No po mere pryblyzhenyya turnyra stanovytsya yasno: nykto ne gotov govoryt Tyto pravdu o tom, chto na samom dele sluchylos s ego mamoy. Za roman «Shakh y mat sredy zvezd» Alessandro Barbalya byl udostoen Natsyonalnoy premyy Strega Ragazze e Ragazzi. Eto knyga ne o shakhmatakh kak o bytve, a ob umenyy vydet zhyzn kak bolshuyu shakhmatnuyu partyyu, gde dazhe posle samoy tyazheloy potery mozhno nayty pravylnyy khod. Skvoz metaforu zvezdnogo neba y cherno-belykh kletok Alessandro Barbalya rasskazyvaet ystoryyu o druzhbe, vzroslenyy y muzhestve, kotoroe nuzhno ne dlya pobedy, a dlya togo, chtoby prosto zhyt dalshe.

Tito is twelve years old, and while his parents are exploring the mysteries of the universe, he is trying to comprehend earthly truths. Sometimes it can be difficult. After all, even his mathematical mind cannot always sort out the chaos that reigns around. Ever since Tito's mom flew away on the New Voyager to the distant stars, Tito's dad has been sitting with his face buried in a book for days on end, not noticing anything around him. Their world has plunged into a viscous silence, which is broken only by the antics of Vicky, Tito's girlfriend, and Grandmother Irma's lasagna. To shake up Papa Tito and draw his attention to the world around him, Vicky secretly enrolls him in a chess tournament, although he not only does not know how to play, but also does not leave the house. Tito and Vicky are helped by an eccentric neighbor, Grandpa Mechanic, a jack–of-all-trades who looks like Einstein and is able to fix anything "in 38 seconds." But as the tournament gets closer, it becomes clear that no one is ready to tell Tito the truth about what really happened to his mom. Alessandro Barbaglia was awarded the Strega Ragazze e Ragazzi National Prize for his novel Checkmate among the Stars. This book is not about chess as a battle, but about the ability to see life as a big chess game, where even after the heaviest loss you can find the right move. Through the metaphor of the starry sky and black-and-white cages, Alessandro Barbaglia tells a story about friendship, growing up and the courage that is needed not to win, but just to move on.