J. Kasper Kramer
J. Kasper Kramer's new middle grade novel for kids is The Story That Cannot Be Told.
From her Q&A with Deborah Kalb:
Q: How did you come up with the idea for The Story That Cannot Be Told, and for your character Ileana?--Marshal Zeringue
A: For about five years, I lived in Japan, where I taught at an international school in Tsukuba, Ibaraki. Some of my coworkers and best friends were Romanian women.
One night, a friend came over to tell me some fairytales as research for another book I was writing, but then she started telling me stories about growing up under Ceausescu and Communist reign. Sitting there listening, taking notes as fast as I could, I realized I had a very different book to write.
Ileana was inspired by my friends, who were about the same age in Romania in the 1980s. She also has pieces of me and, of course, just a lot of her own personality, which...[read on]
