SHANNON DUNLAP – AUTHOR

It’s not far from Manhattan to Brooklyn, but when Izzy’s parents move her and her twin brother across the river and away from the Lower East Side, it feels like another world. Izzy, who wants to be a doctor and doesn’t make friends easily, plans on keeping her head down and her grades up until graduation. But when she meets Tristan, everything changes. A soft-spoken chess prodigy, Tristan lives in the shadow of his cousin Marcus, winning games in the park and staying out of the trouble that Marcus seems to court. But when Izzy’s and Tristan’s paths cross, they embark on a journey that mixes star-crossed romance with old rivalries. This debut breathes new life into the epic tale of Tristan and Iseult; instead of war, the game is chess. This modern tragedy-romance is deadly serious in its execution, placing teens on the front lines of today’s headlines. With rich prose and a backdrop that draws on racial tensions in America, this is a fierce, smart reimagining of a timeless love story. –Booklist review of Izzy + Tristan