Not since The Book Thief has the character of Death played such an
original and affecting part in a book for young people.
Flora and Henry were born a few blocks from each other, innocent of the
forces that might keep a white boy and an African American girl apart;
years later they meet again and their mutual love of music sparks an
even more powerful connection. But what Flora and Henry don't know is
that they are pawns in a game played by the eternal adversaries Love and
Death, here brilliantly reimagined as two extremely sympathetic and
fascinating characters. Can their hearts and their wills overcome not
only their earthly circumstances, but forces that have battled
throughout history? In the rainy Seattle of the 1920s, romance blooms
among the jazz clubs, the mansions of the wealthy, and the shantytowns
of the poor. But what is more powerful: love? Or death?