Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess. Every move counts nowadays; after the sport led to the destruction of her family four years earlier, Mallory’s focus is on her mom, her sisters, and the dead-end job that keeps the lights on. That is, until she begrudgingly agrees to play in one last charity tournament and inadvertently wipes the board with notorious “Kingkiller” Nolan Sawyer: current world champion and reigning Bad Boy of chess. Nolan’s...

New to Cincinnati, where her father is now coach of the University basketball team, eighth-grader Aurora (called Rory) finds herself isolated by the heated team rivalries--especially when it turns out her new friend Abby's father has a mysterious feud with Rory's father that threatens her new friendship.