1. Ever
I remember reading the story of Japhtheth in the Bible. A great general promises the Lord that should Israel conquer its foes, he will sacrifice the first thing that comes out of his barn when he returns to his home. Unfortunately for him, the first thing to come out of his barn is his young daughter who approaches to welcome. His daughter agrees to the sacrifice on the condition that she can first go off with her friends and bemoan her virginity. I thought that this was a completely unrealistic story and even had a college professor write a paper on the theological implications of a God who would accept such a sacrifice. Years later, I had a chance to attend a reading by Gail Carson Levine and found a similar theme reworked very effectively. Kezi is a young Mesopotamian girl who enjoys home life and the art of weaving. Unbeknownst to her, she one day catches the eye of a god from a separate kingdom. When her mother falls ill, her father swears to sacrifice the first person to congratulate him on his wife's eventual recovery. Kezi's beloved grandmother is about to do so when Kezi, out of love for her grandmother, congratulates her father. The rest of the story is a very unusual quest. The rival god decides that he cannot allow this sacrifice to go forward and god and scapegoat go off in search of the Mesopotamian god. Perhaps, they think, the god will hear them out and allow Kezi to escape the sacrifice. I love the love story in this book, since it is a pure and imaginative one. I enjoy the roles of the different gods and the facets of their responsibilities. Most of all, I would love to see this ancient civilization brought to life on a larger scale.