Phiona Mutesi

Phiona Mutesi is the book's protagonist and the titular "Queen of Katwe." Phiona has lived her entire life in Katwe, a slum in Kampala, Uganda. After her father's death from AIDS when she was three years old, Phiona's family faced abject poverty. Phiona's early childhood was filled with the daily struggles of finding food, stable shelter, and money for school tuition. As such, Phiona and her siblings had to leave school and sell maize in the slum to scrape together some family income.

Phiona had two near-death experiences as a child. At seven years old she fell sick with a fever and was declared dead. After several hours, she miraculously recovered. Roughly one year later, Phiona fell sick again and lost consciousness in the hospital for several days. Doctors were not optimistic, but she made a second miraculous recovery. These experiences reinforced her mother's Christian faith...