Waverly is named after the street her family lives on, yet the family calls her Meimei, which means “Little Sister.” Waverly is the youngest of three children, the only girl, and grows up playing in the alleys and on the streets of San Francisco’s Chinatown. She watches customers through the windows of shops and pesters her brothers to let her play with them. She has many adventures but none so great as her introduction to chess.

This story centers on Waverley’s relationship with her mother and how that relationship contributes to Waverly’s growth both as a chess player and as a person. Waverly is youthful, naive, and relatively unburdened by external concerns. Because her mother shields her from financial and domestic worries, Waverly is able to explore her passion (chess) and begin to find her place in the world. At the beginning of the story, she is largely defined by her brothers—taking up their interests and seeking to join in their games. But by the end, she has found her passion and set her goals.

Thanks to her mother’s guidance, Waverly cultivates an “invisible strength,” symbolized by the wind, an invisible force that guides her chess moves.