High Stakes

It all started in June of 2012.  I read debut author Martha Brockenbrough's Devine Intervention.  To this day, moments from those pages are as real to me now as they were then.  When Martha Brockenbrough writes, I want to read it.

On April 28, 2015 her newest title, The Game of Love and Death (Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.) was released.  I could hardly wait for the weekend to begin reading it.  In fact, I didn't quite make it to Saturday.

In a moment of weakness I read the first page of The Game of Love and Death @mbrockenbrough before work was done. See no sleep in my future.

— Margie Myers-Culver (@Loveofxena) May 1, 2015

It was followed by these tweets.

Dear @mbrockenbrough I am up to chapter 35 in The Game of Love and Death. The story is mesmerizing. The writing is exquisite.

— Margie Myers-Culver (@Loveofxena) May 3, 2015

My eyes are filled with tears. I have finished the remarkable book The Game of Love and Death by @mbrockenbrough Oh my goodness Martha!

— Margie Myers-Culver (@Loveofxena) May 4, 2015

Chapter 1
Friday, February 13, 1920
The figure in the fine gray suit materialized in the nursery and stood over the sleeping infant, inhaling the sweet, milky night air.  He could have taken any form, really:  a sparrow, a snowy owl, even a common housefly.  Although he often traveled the world on wings, for this work he always preferred a human guise.  

With this first paragraph we readers step into a world we will not easily be able to leave.  The being standing over the sleeping boy is Love.  With a drop of his blood, he strengthens the heart of Henry Bishop.  Two words softly spoken to the child as he leaves will be needed.  Henry is now a player.

The following evening, in another part of Seattle nearby, Death, Love's opponent, bends to pick up a sleeping baby girl.  She awakens but Death holds her until she rests comfortably again.  With a single black tear from her eye, Death writes a word on the child's forehead.  This word will direct every facet of Flora Saudade's life. Death utters five prophetic sentences. Flora is now a player.

Seventeen years pass before the players are deemed ready, before the game commences.  Love and Death meet an ocean away, sealing the fate of Henry and Flora by writing their names on a paper. The rules are determined as is the length of the game with a roll of dice.  So much will happen between the 27th of March, 1937 and the 7th of July, 1937.  For Love to win

"They must choose courage," he said.
"They must choose each other at the cost of everything else. ..."

At seventeen Flora Saudade, an African American, has a single life passion, fixing, improving and flying airplanes.  At night she is a jazz singer of exceptional talent in a nightclub, The Domino.  The Domino belonged to her parents before they were killed in a tragic accident.  Now Flora and her Uncle Sherman are co-owners.  She no longer attends school dividing her time between caring for her Grandmother, working at the airfield for Captain Girard and singing.  Her dream is to find a sponsor so she can buy a plane, fly around the world and surpass her heroines, Bessie Coleman and Amelia Earhart.

Through the curse of influenza and the stock market crash, Henry Bishop, a white boy, with no family of his own, has been living with his best friend, Ethan Thorne, at their mansion.  His father and Ethan's father were best friends.  Bernard Thorne owns The Inquirer newspaper in Seattle.  The Thornes have plans for Henry and Ethan; school, college and working at the newspaper. Henry has secrets.  Ethan has secrets; some Henry does not even realize.  All Henry longs to do is play bass; practicing, playing, and writing music makes his heart sing.

Through an assignment as cub reporters, Ethan and Henry cross paths with Flora.  The drop of blood given by Love, the word written with a black tear by Death and the competition provide an almost otherworldly attraction of the two, Henry and Flora.  Little do they know the clock is ticking.  There is slightly more than two months left.

Do Love and Death sit idly by?  A sparrow may soar near and sing when least expected.  The familiar black cat around the small green house or the club appears and disappears as if by magic.  A Thorne family relative having created a scandal in the east arrives for an extended visit.  There is a new "mayor" in the Hooverville city in Seattle, residence of men without jobs during the Depression.

The layers of story between Flora and Henry, Death and Love, the mix of the four, family and friends build toward a conclusion which will leave you gasping for breath.  Twists and turns you do not see coming heighten the tension to the point where you wonder what sort of resolution will be presented.  This game, this race against time, between Love and Death has been played for hundreds of years.  Love has never won.  Never.


For me excellence is in the details.  In Martha Brockenbrough's mind words are used like a pencil- thin brush.  Her portraits of places, people and events, regardless of the historical time period, are painted so intricately you are transported by the beauty and realism.

The use of dates with some of the chapter headings supplies an additional immediacy.  There are shifts from scene to scene within chapters delineated by a line depicting the passage of time.  Death and Love move with ease to various spots on the globe.  Each of these is flawless, flowing like a film upon a screen.

Whether it's the narrative, thoughts of the characters or the dialogue between them, Brockenbrough gets to the truth of human and immortal natures.  All aspects of what makes us who we are find a place in this story.  She examines with careful thought the roles of Love and Death not just in this game but in the course of human existence.   My copy of this book is peppered with sticky note markers.  Here are some lines and passages.


People are funny about things they couldn't see.  If they couldn't see it, it wasn't there.  Or at the least, it didn't affect them.  But the world didn't work that way, did it?  There were things all around that you couldn't see, and these things had power.

Flora opened her mouth to sing and Henry swallowed hard.  He'd never heard anything like her voice, which made him wish he had his bass in his hands, just so he could return the sounds, a mix of chocolate and cream, something he wanted to drink through his skin. 

The sky flashed white and thunder boomed, and the rain fell once more, like letters tipped out of a liquid book.

To be written into story.  That was how even the lost lived on.


Haunting, heartbreaking, heartwarming, powerful, stunning and eloquent are only a few of the words to describe The Game of Love and Death written by Martha Brockenbrough.  Roles of gender, race and class are adeptly blended within a historical setting which is in turn all part of the game of the two eternal beings.  This is a book you will want to read, recommend and then read again.  This is one of those titles when you finish, you look around and can't believe it is May 2015.  A large part of you remains in 1937.

To discover more about Martha Brockenbrough and her other work, visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  Please enjoy Martha's guest post, Friend Friday, at author Kirby Larson's site in which she speaks about The Game of Love and Death.  Martha was recently interviewed at Kirkus about this new title.  UPDATE:  Martha Brockenbrough wrote a guest post on author Gae Polisner's blog, that wee bit heap on July 10, 2015.
  
Update: Martha Brockenbrough writes an essay about book ideas at NW Book Lovers. She did win a position on the 2016 Pacific Northwest Book Awards list.

This tweet in reply to mine is a treasure.  Thank you Martha for this and your books.

I have been waiting for this woman's response to my book for months. It was worth it.:-) https://t.co/N9r8pgGvqM

— Martha Brockenbrough (@mbrockenbrough) May 4, 201

Four Weeks in Summer 1959

It is the year Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the Union as the forty-ninth and fiftieth states.  It is the first time Barbie made an appearance with the other dolls in toy stores.  It is the year Time Magazine's Man of the Year was Dwight D. Eisenhower.  Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone airs on television in October on CBS following Bonanza in September on NBC.


It is also the year when an eleven-year-old boy, living in Memphis, Tennessee, takes over the newspaper route for a friend during the month of July.  These four weeks will challenge and change Little Man.  Paperboy (Delacorte Press, May, 2013), a 2014 Newbery Honor winner, written by Vince Vawter is this boy's story.  This book will challenge and change you.

I'm typing about the stabbing for a good reason. I can't talk.

Without stuttering.

While not excited about taking over Rat's (Art's) paper delivery, he knows his skill at having a ferocious fastball is responsible; unintentionally hitting his friend on the last day of sixth grade before summer.  Picking up the papers with the other boys, cutting the bundles, folding the papers, loading up the bags and throwing them or placing them on people's porches is not the problem.  The real dilemma is collecting the money each Friday evening for the papers.  He voices his concerns to Mam.

Mam, Miss Nellie Avent, an African American woman, has been the housekeeper for the boy's family for more than six years.  A Bible-reading, choir-singing but not opposed to fortune tellers and believing in the Hounds of Hell, Mam dispenses advice and love to the boy.  She treats him fairly with respect, looking him directly in the eye when they are in conversation.

The boy's parents, good people who love their son, hire a tutor to work with him on his speech.  His mother is at home when not involved in the social commitments as a member of the country club.  Even after working many hours at his job, his father usually manages to spend time playing catch with the boy.  It is a good family even if there is a secret.

Mam did warn the boy to stay away from one of the local junk men, Ara T, but he needed his knife sharpened to cut the newspaper bundles open.  Big Sack, an African American man seems to be more visible in the neighborhood lately.  It's a puzzle as to why TV Boy, at one of the houses on his route, sits and stares at the television without moving.  Mrs. Worthington, one of the most beautiful women he has ever seen, definitely has a fondness for whiskey to lessen frightening problems.  A merchant marine, Mr. Spiro, with his eloquent manner of speaking and astute methods for problem solving, reveals a home filled with untold treasures.

These are the people who populate the boy's summer days, altering his life more than he ever would have anticipated.  There are questions never answered but other resolutions forge friendships.  Heart-stopping fear is replaced with a keen sense of security.  Loyalty, justice, and love are life's greatest teachers.


From the very first sentence, building to the last thought on the final page, there is an undercurrent of tension; a things-are-going-to-happen feeling permeates this first person narrative.  Vince Vawter, using his own life experiences, creates a story so real you will begin to feel your own heart beat in sync with that of the main character.  His life becomes your life as each page is turned, your world slides away as you are transported to 1959.

The boy dislikes commas, the pauses they create, so he does not use them.  The sentences are grouped in specific blocks, unique paragraphs, of dialogue and thoughts.  Even when Little Man is stuttering the story flows, albeit more slowly.  There is still with a seamless connection to all the events.

All the characters, no matter their role in the boy's summer month, are significant pieces in the complete picture.  Distinct personalities are fully realized to the point where you wouldn't be a bit surprised to see any of them walking down the street when you look out your window in 1959 Memphis.  Each person is integral to the boy's growth; to gaining wisdom and understanding.

Here are a couple of examples of writing from the book, although the number of sticky notes visible along the page edges grew as I kept reading.

In the part of Memphis where I live all the street names are sunk in the concrete on every corner in nice blue tile.  I know all the streets but I like to read the name in my head each time I come to one.  Vinton.  Harbert.  Carr.  Melrose.  Goodbar.  Peabody.

The streets are like friends that I don't have to talk to.


I felt like I was falling off a cliff and trying to grab for tree limbs or anything to slow me down like cowboys do in television shows.  
s-s-s-s But fiction is a story and s-s-s-s nonfiction is the s-s-s-s truth.
And I reply that you are referring merely to the rule of law.  I contend that one is likely to find more truth in fiction.  A good painting after all is more truthful than a photograph.  Remember that, Young Messenger, for all your days.


I can guarantee you will never forget reading Paperboy by Vince Vawter.  It is a powerful, moving portrayal reaching out to the hearts and minds of readers.  A two page author's note at the end offers explanations and invites questions.  Make sure you follow this link to Watch. Connect. Read., the blog of teacher librarian, John Schumacher.  It is a three question interview of Vince Vawter after he won the Newbery Honor plus great additional resources.  By following the link in embedded in Vince Vawter's name above you can access his website.  This link takes you to the publisher's website so you can view and read forty-two pages from the book.