Published: 2022
Author: Hanna Alkaf
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Mental Health, Asian Literature, Friendship
Audience (Grade Levels): Grades 7-12
Number of Stars: 5-Stars
Goodreads Link: Queen of the Tiles
Triggers: On-page death, descriptions of anxiety/PTSD/panic attacks, discussions of grief and loss
Review By: Sara Tripp
Publisher’s Summary
They Wish They Were Us meets The Queen’s Gambit in the world of competitive Scrabble when a teen girl is forced to investigate the mysterious death of her best friend a year after the fact when her Instagram comes back to life with cryptic posts and messages.
- CATALYST
- 13 points
- noun: a person or thing that precipitates an event or change
When Najwa Bakri walks into her first Scrabble competition since her best friend’s death, it’s with the intention to heal and move on with her life. Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to choose the very same competition where said best friend, Trina Low, died. It might be even though Najwa’s trying to change, she’s not ready to give up Trina just yet.
But the same can’t be said for all the other competitors. With Trina, the Scrabble Queen herself, gone, the throne is empty, and her friends are eager to be the next reigning champion. All’s fair in love and Scrabble, but all bets are off when Trina’s formerly inactive Instagram starts posting again, with cryptic messages suggesting that maybe Trina’s death wasn’t as straightforward as everyone thought. And maybe someone at the competition had something to do with it.
As secrets are revealed and the true colors of her friends are shown, it’s up to Najwa to find out who’s behind these mysterious posts—not just to save Trina’s memory, but to save herself.
Review
This is the first young adult book I have read in awhile and it did not disappoint! I found the idea of a teen Scrabble tournament being an event where a murder took place an interesting twist! I liked that the story took place a year after Najwa’s friend Trina had died. I thought it was nice for teens to see that the death of a friend is something that impacts your life long term and is not easily forgotten. Najwa does her work to cope with her loss in a very healthy way. As she gets back into the Scrabble game and starts to reconnect with her other friends she finds out that everyone was impacted by Trina’s death differently. The relationships she thought she understood to be true were proven wrong. It really brings to light the idea that you never really know what a person is going through. I also really loved the Malay culture that was so perfectly included in the book. Even though you typically wouldn’t know the Malay terms you could easily identify what they meant. It added more flare and was interesting to read about. I think this book was beautifully written and I look forward to reading more of Hanna Alkaf’s work!
Classroom & Curricular Connections
- ELA / Creative Writing: This novel serves as an excellent mentor text for teaching mystery structures, pacing, and suspense. The unique integration of Scrabble terms and vocabulary definitions at the start of narrative segments can inspire lessons on word-building, dictionary definitions as writing prompts, and structural creativity.
- Social-Emotional Learning (SEL): The book provides profound opportunities to discuss mental health, grief, PTSD, anxiety, and panic attacks. It models how characters process sudden loss differently over a long-term period, fostering classroom discussions on empathy, support networks, and psychological healing.
Diversity & Representation
The book shines in its authentic representation of Malay culture and Muslim teen identity. By seamlessly weaving Malaysian cultural elements and Malay vocabulary into the dialogue and setting, Alkaf provides an immersive, organic learning experience for readers without disrupting the high-stakes narrative flow.
Readalikes
- They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman
- Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
- The Ivies by Alexa Donne
