Gypsy Knights
by Two Brothers Metz
Kindle Price: $2.99

About the book:
Fourteen year old Durriken Brishen has lost his grandfather, his parents and though he doesn't know it, his culture's dangerous gift. Taken in and raised on the rails by a freight train engineer, Durriken has one remaining connection to his Gypsy roots, a small wooden box that hangs from the hammer loop of his overalls. The last gift he received from his grandfather, the box contains the world's first chess set. Gypsy Knights is the saga of Durriken Brishen and his quest to rediscover his past.

My thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book. It's fast paced, full of history and it was fun to "travel" with Durriken (Duri) and his friend Dilia. The book opens with the story of how Duri receives the chess set and the death of his parents. At first it's hard to know who everyone is because it jumps around some between years and individuals. You jump from his story, to
Dilia's story, to his grandfather's story and so on - but once you know who everyone is it becomes much easier to follow along. I particularly enjoyed reading about Duri's family history with the chess set and also his adventure with Dilia traveling the rails.

The book takes place between 1960 and 1965 so you'll notice some differences. You'll see a clear cut view of prejudice in the 60's against the gypsies and other races although I personally don't think it's "in your face". There is mention of Zigeunernacht (when the Nazi's gassed 2900 Gypsies at Auschwitz) and other times when the Gypsies were discriminated against. There is quite a bit of language which I personally didn't care for and a "first kiss" between Duri & Dilia - which I thought it was very tastefully done and restraint was shown in not allowing the relationship to expand beyond the first kiss. There was an innocence in that kiss and the relationship between Dilia and Duri slowly building was really nice to see.

I would recommend this book for kids 13+. My only dislike was the amount of language (I don't use it and tend to skip over it) but otherwise the book is very good. You may have some questions about discrimination - but most kids of this age are familiar enough with the atrocities of the Nazi's and this might expand their knowledge to other people who were discriminated against.

You can purchase the Kindle version of Gypsy Knights here for $2.99 on Amazon. Your kid's will love it and even if they are a reluctant reader somewhat they should enjoy it.

A short interview:
I had a few questions to ask Two Brothers Metz about certain sections in the book - namely the chess "game" that is part of a clue.

A) I found it interesting when Duri and Dilia were trying to do the chess game on paper using the states & cities to figure out their next step and where they should go next - Do either of you play chess? Was it hard to actually write out the chess scene and does it actually work? (I am not a chess aficionado nor a mathematician so it was over my head - LOL)