about the book
February, 1920, Seattle: the eternal adversaries, Love and Death, choose their players. Love, materializing in a nursery as a man in a fine gray suit, pricks his finger and places the bleeding fingertip into the mouth of a baby boy. Before leaving, he whispers to the boy, “Have courage.”
The next night, Death materializes in a small green house a few blocks away. She lifts up her player, a baby girl, from an apple crate being used as a crib. Death produces a single black tear and uses it to write a single invisible word on the baby’s forehead: Someday. She whispers to the baby, “Someday, everyone you love will die. Everything you love will crumble to ruin. This is the price of life. This is the price of love. It is the only ending for every true story.”
So begins the Game of Love and Death, a game that has been played for centuries, a game that Death has always won. The two watch their players for the next seventeen years, waiting for their game to begin.
In the year 1937, Flora and Henry are unaware that they are players this game. Flora, an African American orphan from an impoverished background, dreams of being a pilot and spends nights singing at a jazz club. Henry, a white orphan adopted by a wealthy family, loves baseball and playing orchestral music. When he hears Flora sing, her voice stays with him.
Can Flora and Henry beat their circumstances? Will the two fall in love against all odds, among jazz clubs, mansions, and shanty towns? What will Love and Death each be willing to do in order to win the game?
about the author
Martha Brockenbrough, author of a total of seven books so far, seems to have an innate love for grammar or knowledge. She founded National Grammar Day, which now occurs on March 4th. She has written questions for the games Cranium and Trivial Pursuit, and worked as an editor for MSN.com—for this job, she got to interview celebrities like the Jonas Brothers and Slash.
As for Martha’s writing career, she’s been published in many places, including The New York Times, and—repeatedly—the online encyclopedia Encarta, for which she wrote an educational humor column for nine years. Her published books have been for both adults and for young readers. Devine Intervention, Martha’s first novel, was one of the Kirkus Reviews Tip 100 books for teens in 2012 and a Kansas State Reading Circle selection.
In her personal life, Martha lives with her family in Seattle, Washington. She loves Indian and Thai food, Indian being her favorite. Her free time is spent playing board games, playing music with her family band, traveling, drinking coffee, and exercising.
Source:
Author website
Also by Martha Brockenbrough:
Devine Intervention. Arthur A. Levine. 2012.
read more!
Bright Lights, Dark Nights by Stephen Emond
While Walter has never been in love, he does love the Foo Fighters. Now, having moved to a new city with his father, he meets Naomi—complete with clever jokes and her own love for the Foo Fighters. Sparks fly. When Walter’s father, a police officer, is caught in a racial profiling scandal, Walter (white) and Naomi (African American) experience the ultimate test of their relationship. Walter must take a stand for what’s right, but that means taking risks he’s never taken before.
Devine Intervention by Martha Brockenbrough
After Jerome dies in an accident, he awakens in Soul Rehab. If he follows the rehab program, as a sort of angel in training, he may be able to enter Heaven. Jerome is assigned to Heidi Devine, who grows to rely on her guardian angel as she navigates high school. But with too many absences and too many violations, Jerome risks getting kicked out of rehab. When Heidi’s life and soul are put in jeopardy, Jerome races to figure out what went wrong and how to make things right.
See No Color by Shannon Gibney
Alex, biracial, has never minded that her adopted family is white. She’s more focused on baseball—just like her former pro-athlete father. Then comes Reggie, the first black guy to show interest in knowing her. And soon, Alex finds letters hidden from her from her biological father. She wonders what it means to be black, and tries to come to terms with her adoption, her race, and her dreams.