KETURAH AND LORD DEATH

This lyrical tale adds surprises to the search for true love. Sixteen-year-old Keturah has never known love. When she’s lost in the forest, the beautiful but severe Lord Death comes for her and decides to carry her off as his consort. Keturah strikes a bargain: If she can find true love in one day, thus proving to Death that there is more to love than dreams, he will spare her life. Scheherazade-like, Keturah draws out her single day into three, each night telling Death more of a story. Meanwhile, she examines the young men of her village as potential husbands, though without considering handsome John Temsland, the smitten son of her liege lord. As her deadline approaches, Keturah sees her village, her family and her friends as more beloved each day—her impending death adds spice to the mundane. Keturah’s quest is lovely if (given its folktale style) not so original, but her unexpected solution to the puzzle leads to a thought-provoking and unabashedly sentimental conclusion. (Fantasy. 12-15)