The Story That Cannot Be Told

The Story That Cannot Be Told
by J. Kasper Kramer (Author)

Booktalk: Ileana has always collected stories. Some are about the past, before the leader of her country tore down her home to make room for his golden palace; back when families had enough food, and the hot water worked on more than just Saturday nights. Others are folktales like the one she was named for, which her father used to tell her at bedtime. But some stories can get you in trouble, like the dangerous one criticizing Romania’s Communist government that Uncle Andrei published–right before he went missing.

Snippet: For as long as I’d had the Great Tome–which was basically all my life–I’d rarely let anyone read from it but me. I collected stories in class, at the store, off the TV. I changed them to suit how I felt, most often rewriting the endings. But when I decided to share what I created, I was careful in choosing which tale and how to tell it. There were things I wouldn’t read in front of my parents. There were words I would use during the day but not at night.

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