Can the future ever erase the past? Rose has a Cross mother and a nought father in a society where the pale-skinned noughts are treated as inferiors and those with dual heritage face a life-long battle against deep-rooted prejudices. Sephy, her mother, has told Rose virtually nothing about her father, but as Rose grows into a young adult, she unexpectedly discovers the truth about her parentage and becomes determined to find out more, to honour both sides of her heritage. But her father's family has a complicated history - one tied up with the fight for equality for the nought population. And as Rose takes her first steps away from Sephy and into this world, she finds herself drawn inexorably into more and more danger. Suddenly it's a game of very high stakes that can only have one winner...
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Checkmate once again explores the lasting impact of prejudice, discrimination and the legacy of traumatic family history on the next generation in the author's brilliantly imagined world. Readers will not be dissapointed. - Publishing News
A perfect end to an important and thought-provoking trilogy. - The Bookseller
Dramatic and intensely moving. - The Directory
A book packed with action, thrills and truth. The best end to one of the best trilogies ever...every single page will have you on the edge of your seat. A great read. - Young Sunday Herald
Thought-provoking brilliance. - Sunday Times
Complex but beautifully crafted...dramatic, intensely moving...it truly ensnares the reader and is well worth the wait. - Carousel
Another emotional hard-hitter, the bluntly told and ingeniously constructed story of Callie Rose...again it is painfully close to the knuckle about race, sex, politics and family relationships, but after much anger and despair the trilogy ends with hope. - Sunday Times
There is no mistaking the genuine grassroots passion with which Checkmate, the final part of Malorie Blackman's trilogy, has been anticipated among young teen readers...Blackman is a terrific thriller writer, driving her plots forward with skill and tenacity. - Evening Standard
A mesmeric conclusion to a landmark sequence. - Trowbridge Advertiser
I loved the way each chapter switched between different characters' voices. I would recommend this book to everyone! - Sugar
Dramatic irony is used to great effect throughout the story... I believe this is a highly readable book and essential one to have in your collection - Cork Evening Echo
...thought-provoking and emotionally charged - Book Chick City
Malorie Blackman worked as a database manager and systems programmer before becoming a full-time writer. Her reputation has steadily grown and she has been awarded a number of prizes including the WHSmith's Mind-Boggling Books Award and the Young Telegraph/Gimme 5 award for HACKER, the Young Telegraph/Fully Booked award for THIEF! and, more recently, shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for PIG-HEART BOY. She was voted Voice/Excel Children's Writer of the Year in 1997. Her novel NOUGHTS AND CROSSES has won both the Children's Book Award and the Lancashire Children's Book Award 2002. THE TIMES recently described her as 'a bit of a national treasure.'
