Review by Kris Feller

Queen of the Tiles opens as our protagonist, Najwa Bakri, is dropped off by her family at the annual Word Warrior Weekend, a Scrabble competition which she describes as “part elite tournament, part sleepover, all awkward teen hormones and chaste, chaperoned social events in between.” At the previous year’s tournament, Najwa’s best friend and self-proclaimed “Queen of the Tiles”, Trina Low, shocked the community when she tumbled forward dead onto the Scrabble board right after losing to top-tier word nerd Josh Tan. His response, “So… this means I still win, right?”

Najwa has come a long way in the past year towards processing the grief of losing her best friend in such a traumatic scenario. She has gotten a therapist, stepped back from public Scrabble competitions and learned some techniques for dealing with the “ANTs” – automatic negative thoughts – that threaten to hurl her into paralyzing panic attacks. She has learned to rely on the solid support provided by her younger sister, but when she needs a Scrabble friend to share her thoughts she still DMs Trina’s private number, which was never closed by her bereaved mother.

Najwa’s objective at this year’s tournament is twofold, First, she wants to uncover everything she can about what may have caused the death of her friend. Though the police never found any foul play associated with Trina’s death, Najwa knows how competitive the teen Scrabble community can be and she plans to follow up on more than a few suspicious individuals. Then, while she’s at it, she aims to capture the title of Scrabble queen for herself. She’s the one who brought Trina into competitive Scrabble after all; she’s the player who actually cares about words for their beauty and not just their point value. 

As the plot progresses there are numerous twists. The spotlight is turned on multiple possible suspects and the reader may even begin to question the innocence of Najwa’s friendship with Trina. Along with the lively storyline, the Malaysian setting is brightly depicted through multiple fun details, such as the ominous build of afternoon thunderstorms, the boxed sugar cane juice that is served at a snack break, a scandal that sticks to one player like the “smell of rotten durian.” As a reader, it was extremely enjoyable to immerse myself in this world of competition and intrigue in this setting.

Widdershins, obnubilate, anagnorisis, coffeehousing and of course, REGICIDE. This is a book that celebrates language and wordplay. I don’t always love books that begin chapters with definitions, but Alkaf picks such glorious and intriguing words that I was delighted to see which one would come next. In addition to celebrating language, the novel pays tribute to strategic thinking. As Najwa says, “Scrabble is a game of words, but its shape is defined by the mathematical precision of numbers.” It is a “game of probabilities and cunning strategies, a math problem to be solved.” What better backdrop for a teen mystery?

If you are a reader who enjoys tangled friendships, vocabulary, and puzzles, then reach your mind into this jumbled collection of quirky characters and see if you can Sherlock your way to the final resolution along with Najwa Bakri.

Queen of the Tiles
Written by Hanna Alkaf
2023, Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9781534494565
Honors: Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee (IN); NYPL Best Books for Teens; ALA/YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults – Top Ten; Massachusetts Teen Choice Book Award Nominee
Reviews: Kirkus, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly

Kris Feller (she/her) has been an international librarian for 25 years. She is currently working at the International School Yangon as a PK-12 librarian. Before that, she worked at schools in Moscow, Caracas, Seoul, Almaty, Bratislava and Chisinau. YA Fantasy is her go-to genre, particularly dark academia, but she loves to read around the library and appreciates gripping thrillers, gorgeous picture books and heartfelt middle grade novels as well. When not reading or working she is most likely taking a stroll through the streets of Yangon while listening to a newsy podcast.

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GLLI’s 2024 International YA Literature Month has been curated by Dr Emily Corbett. She is a lecturer in children’s and young adult literature at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she leads the MA Children’s Literature: Theoretical Approaches to Children’s and Young Adult Literature programme. Her research focuses on the growth and development of YA from literary, publishing, and cultural perspectives. She is also General Editor of The International Journal of Young Adult Literature and was founding Vice President of the YA Studies Association. Her monograph, In Transition: Young Adult Literature and Transgender Representation (2024), is forthcoming with the University Press of Mississippi in June. You can find her contact details on her institutional website and connect with her on Twitter and Instagram via @DrEmilyCorbett.

Opinions expressed in posts on this site are the individual author’s and are not indicative of the views of Global Literature in Libraries Initiative.