" chapter one   When the plane ran into trouble, it was over the Atlantic Ocean just south of Iceland. The Knights of the Square Table, the ninth-grade San Francisco all-star chess team, were sitting toward the middle of the plane. The three girls, Natalie, Cindy, and Alexis, sat together. Natalie was in the middle, Cindy was by the window, and Alexis was on the aisle. The guys—George, Liam, and Spider—were in the row ahead. The team was heading home after spending eight days in Europe for the International Youth Chess Championship. At the first lurch, when the plane tipped sideways, Natalie gripped the armrest so hard her fingers hurt. As if that would help one bit in an actual plane crash. A small child toward the front shrieked, “We’re frashing! We’re frashing!” “Oh, my God!” someone shouted. “Everyone needs to keep calm,” Cindy said in a small, squeaky voice. “Yeah, right!” Spider said. Spider’s real name was Michael, but nobody except his parents called him that. “Michael "

― Teri Kanefield , Knights of the Square Table