Stamper, Vesper
WORK TITLE: What the Night Sings
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.vesperillustration.com/
CITY:
STATE: NY
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
http://www.vesperillustration.com/contact/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
| LC control no.: | n 2010017683 |
|---|---|
| LCCN Permalink: | https://lccn.loc.gov/n2010017683 |
| HEADING: | Stamper, Vesper |
| 000 | 00346nz a2200121n 450 |
| 001 | 8222416 |
| 005 | 20100324110639.0 |
| 008 | 100324n| acannaabn |n aaa |
| 010 | __ |a n 2010017683 |
| 040 | __ |a DLC |b eng |c DLC |
| 100 | 1_ |a Stamper, Vesper |
| 670 | __ |a Ben + Vesper. All this could kill you, p2007: |b insert (Vesper Stamper, vocals, accordion) |
| 953 | __ |a qr09 |
PERSONAL
Married; children: two.
EDUCATION:Parsons School of Design, B.F.A.; School of Visual Arts, NYC, M.F.A.
ADDRESS
- Home - New York, NY.
CAREER
Writer and illustrator.
AVOCATIONS:Singing and playing guitar.
RELIGION: Jewish.WRITINGS
- What the Night Sings (young adult novel), Knopf Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2018
SIDELIGHTS
Vesper Stamper is writer and illustrator. She grew up in New York and received a bachelor’s in fine arts degree in illustration with honors from Parsons School of Design in New York City and a master’s in fine arts in illustrations as visual essay from the School of Visual Arts. She lives near New York City with her husband and two children.
Vesper’s first book, What the Night Sings, is an illustrated story about one girl’s experience of the Holocaust. Aimed at readers aged twelve and up, the book is illustrated in tones of deep brown, with larger scenes divided by periodic spot images.
The story opens in 1945, with the British liberation of German concentration camps. The book opens with teenaged protagonist Gerta Rausch holding her dying bunkmate, Rivkah, in her arms as British troops arrive at Auschwitz to free the prisoners. The story details Gerta’s life before the war, her experiences in the Nazi concentration camp, and how she adjusts to life outside of the prison camp. Briana Shemroske in Booklist described What the Night Sings, as “a well-researched, elegant, and fittingly melodic exploration of reclaiming one’s voice–and the many kinds of faith it can spark.”
Prior to the war, Gerta did not even know she was Jewish. According to her Ahnenpass, a certificate of Aryan lineage, her name was Gerta Richter, not Gerta Rausch. Gerta was an aspiring musician, excelling in viola and singing. She and her father, a violist in the Wurzburg Orchestra, lived a sheltered life in Wurzburg, focusing on music and turning a blind eye to the realities of what was happening in Germany. She is preparing for her first performance when she and her father are captured by the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz. On the train to the concentration camp, her father reveals the truth about the family ancestry. Gerta has no personal connection to the faith, and relates judaism to abuse and extermination. Once at the camp, Gerta’s familiarity with viola saves her and she is enrolled in the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz. Unfortunately, she discovers later, her father did not survive the death camp.
With the British liberation of concentration camp, Gerta is free, or so it seems. She is placed in the Bergen-Belsen Displaced Persons Camp, a temporary camp for World War II refugees. Life at Bergen-Belsen is still far from what her world was life prior to the war, but her musical talent saves her once again. Gerta plays at the orchestra at Bergen-Belsen, which grants her opportunities she would not otherwise have. Gerta experiences the difficulty of adjusting to the post-World War II world, and experiences the effects of lingering anti-semitism.
At the displaced persons camp Gerta mets Michah, Rivkah’s son, and Lev, a devout teen survivor. Through Lev, Gerta discovers a sense of Jewish identity that she had never previously known. A sort of love triangle develops, but Gerta’s true ambitions cannot be dampened by romance. She seeks to continue pursuing music, longing to sing again. Lev sees her passion and tries to help her find opportunities to pursue her passion. Gerta eventually takes the route of many post-WWII Jewish refugees and flees to Palestine, hoping to find hope and safety there.
Carla Riemer in School Library Journal wrote: “The illustration style and muted color palette work beautifully with the text,” adding that “the narrative is spare but powerful.” Amos Lassen in Reviews by Amos Lassen website wrote that Gerta is “one of those literary characters that stays with the reader long after the book is closed,” adding that the book left him “smiling and weeping on the same page.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, November 1, 2017, Briana Shemroske, review of What the Night Sings, p. 67.
Publishers Weekly, November 20, 2017, review of What the Night Sings, p. 94.
School Library Journal, February, 2018, Carla Riemer, review of What the Night Sings, p. 96.
Voice of Youth Advocates, December, 2017, Matthew Weaver, review of What the Night Sings, p. 63
ONLINE
BookPage, https://bookpage.com/ (February 20, 2018), Jill Ratzan, author interview.
Reviews by Amos Lassen, http://reviewsbyamoslassen.com/ (March 4, 2018), Amos Lassen, review of What the Night Sings.
- Vesper Illustration - http://www.vesperillustration.com/about/
Vesper has a BFA degree in Illustration with Honors from Parsons School of Design and an MFA in Illustration as Visual Essay from School of Visual Arts, NYC. She lives near her native New York City with her husband and their two children.
Awards/Grants
Starred review, Kirkus
Starred review, Publisher's Weekly
Junior Library Guild Selection
People’s Choice Finalist, Lilla Rogers Global Talent Search
Lincoln City Fellowship, Speranza Foundation
Center for Faith and Work Artist-in-Residence
SCBWI New Jersey Juried Show Grand Prize, 2014 and 2017
SCBWI New Jersey People’s Choice, 2014
School of Visual Arts MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Department Scholarship
St. Andrew's Society of Washington, DC Scholar
Creative Quarterly 45-46Exhibitions
Parsons School of Design Alumni Show
School of Visual Arts MFA Thesis Show
School of Visual Arts MFA Book Show
All Angels Church Gallery
Mikhail Zakin Gallery
Stamper, Vesper. What the Night
Sings
Matthew Weaver
Voice of Youth Advocates.
40.5 (Dec. 2017): p63. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2017 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
Stamper, Vesper. What the Night Sings. Knopf/Penguin Random House, February 2018. 272p. $19.99. 978-1-5247-0038-6.
4Q * 4P * M * J * S * NA
Sixteen-year-old Gerta Rausch holds dying bunkmate Rivkah in her arms in a Nazi concentration camp when British soldiers arrive to set the prisoners free. Gerta was a music student on the verge of her first performance when she and her beloved father were betrayed, perhaps by her stepmother. Now, Gerta has survived and must learn to cope with the horrors she has experienced, to lead some sort of a life. She is drawn to two fellow survivors: smooth Michah, Rivkah's son, and Lev, so devoted to his faith that he cannot even hold Gerta's hand. Gerta wants to pursue her music again--she survived the concentration camp by being selected to play the viola--but have the atrocities of her life in the camp stolen her abilities?
Stamper portrays the complexities of life in the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust. Gerta wades through her own trauma and the uncertainty of moving forward. It feels a little jarring to have a romantic triangle in such a setting, even though it is used primarily to depict Gerta's journey to the rest of her life. Stamper does not shy from the tragic details--a fellow prisoner makes clear the fate of Gerta's beloved father, and Nazi soldiers throw a baby against a train--but she does not overwhelm the reader unnecessarily. Most affecting is a former rival urging Gerta to sing again: "It's not gone. It's just different." This is a story of survival, about creating respite in the middle of the unbearable.--Matthew Weaver.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
1 of 5 3/4/18, 5:25 PM
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MA...
Weaver, Matthew. "Stamper, Vesper. What the Night Sings." Voice of Youth Advocates, Dec. 2017, p. 63. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A522759443 /GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=110c3695. Accessed 4 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A522759443
2 of 5 3/4/18, 5:25 PM
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What the Night Sings
Briana Shemroske
Booklist.
114.5 (Nov. 1, 2017): p67. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
What the Night Sings.
By Vesper Stamper. Illus. by the author.
Feb. 2018.272p. Knopf, $19.99 (9781524700386). Gr. 9-12.
Before Nazis dragged Gerta Rausch and her father to the Theresienstadt ghetto and, ultimately, to Auschwitz, Gerta was different. Literally. According to her Ahnenpass, a certificate of Aryan lineage, she was Gerta Richter. She had no knowledge of her Jewish heritage; she also had a white-hot passion for all things music. Now, her familiarity with viola--and enrollment in the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz--has saved her life, but Gerta has yet to salvage her greatest love from the rubble: her singing voice. But one boy may be dead set on helping her find it. Sifting through the war's aftermath, Stamper's debut spotlights a multitude of oft-overlooked topics, from postwar pogroms and the Bergen-Belsen displaced-persons camp where Gerta resides, to the budding Zionist movement. Stamper's ethereal sepia-toned illustrations, teetering between black-and-white and full color, beautifully convey Gerta's dilemma as a girl on the brink of both adolescence and adulthood, friendship and romance, silence and song. A well-researched, elegant, and fittingly melodic exploration of reclaiming one's voice--and the many kinds of faith it can spark. Back matter not seen. --Briana Shemroske
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Shemroske, Briana. "What the Night Sings." Booklist, 1 Nov. 2017, p. 67. Book Review Index
Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A515383110/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=e28aae54. Accessed 4 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A515383110
3 of 5 3/4/18, 5:25 PM
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MA...
What the Night Sings
Publishers Weekly.
264.47 (Nov. 20, 2017): p94. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* What the Night Sings
Vesper Stamper. Knopf, $19.99 (272p) ISBN 978-1-5247-0038-6
Stamper's exceptionally moving debut goes beyond recounting the suffering inflicted on Jews during the Holocaust to explore a young woman's conflict between love and artistic ambition. Fourteen-year-old Gerta Richter, a talented singer and daughter of a violist in the Wurzburg Orchestra, learned that she is actually Gerta Rausch, a Jew, when she and her father were forcibly removed from Wurzburg by the Nazis one night in June 1944. The novel opens with the British liberation of German concentration camps in 1945 and moves smoothly among Gerta's prewar life, her stay in concentration camps and the Bergen-Belsen Displaced Persons camp, and her postwar flight to Palestine. Focusing on Gerta's transitional time as a displaced person, Stamper delves into her fight to regain her musical gift, her deepening relationship with a fellow survivor, her growing identity as a Jew, and her struggle to make decisions about her future. Generously illustrated with Stamper's haunting spot images and larger scenes, all in deep brown hues that evoke profound emotion, the book is a strong addition to the bookshelf of Holocaust fiction. Ages 12-up. Agent: Lori Kilkelly, Rodeen Literary Management. (Feb.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"What the Night Sings." Publishers Weekly, 20 Nov. 2017, p. 94. Book Review Index Plus,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A517262177/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=b9beb3b7. Accessed 4 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A517262177
4 of 5 3/4/18, 5:25 PM
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MA...
STAMPER, Vesper. What the Night
Sings
Carla Riemer
School Library Journal.
64.2 (Feb. 2018): p96. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2018 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
* STAMPER, Vesper. What the Night Sings. illus. by Vesper Stamper. 272p. Knopf. Feb. 2018. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9781524700386.
Gr 7 Up--Fifteen-year-old Gerta Rausch did not know she was Jewish until the day she was picked up by the Nazis and taken to a concentration camp. She lived in Germany with her musician father and was sheltered from the reality outside her home, spending all of her time training in viola and opera. Gerta's father reveals the truth as they are crammed into a train car. Gerta struggles to accept this news; she knows nothing of Jewish traditions and her only experience with her religion is tied up with hatred, abuse, and slaughter. Being allowed to play in orchestras keeps her alive in both Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Although the narrative describes life before liberation, much of it focuses on the postwar experience: life in concentration camps-turned-"displaced persons camps," lingering hostility toward Jews, as well as the grueling journey many Jews made from Europe to Palestine. The illustration style and muted color palette work beautifully with the text, managing to communicate both despair and hope. The narrative is spare but powerful as it depicts the daily horrors of the camps and the struggle to survive, hold on to humanity and, once freed, understand how to live again. VERDICT This powerful story is an excellent choice for any library.--Carla Riemer, Claremont Middle School, Oakland
KEY: * Excellent in relation to other titles on the same subject or in the same genre | Tr Hardcover trade binding | lib. ed. Publisher's library binding | Board Board book | pap. Paperback | e eBook original | BL Bilingual | POP Popular Picks
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Riemer, Carla. "STAMPER, Vesper. What the Night Sings." School Library Journal, Feb. 2018,
p. 96. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A526734093 /GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=b309431a. Accessed 4 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A526734093
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- Book Page
https://bookpage.com/interviews/22389-vesper-stamper
Word count: 1392Vesper Stamper
"It’s important to feel another’s humanity, even if it hurts"BookPage interview by Jill Ratzan
In Vesper Stamper’s moving graphic novel What the Night Sings, teenage musician Gerta must rebuild her life after her family, her identity and her expectations for the future have been destroyed in the Holocaust. We spoke to Stamper about the power of music, helping teens grapple with history, Judaism and more.
Most books about the Holocaust focus on victims’ experiences just before or during their time in death camps. What the Night Sings concentrates instead on the aftermath: displaced-persons camps, the survivors’ uncertain future and their attempts at healing. Why did you choose this particular focus?
My work has always centered on how people, especially children, thrive after trauma. The immediate issues surrounding the liberation of [Holocaust] survivors are fascinating and inspiring to me—especially the will and courage to live fully. Right after I began this project, the shootings at Charlie Hebdo and the Hypercacher kosher supermarket happened in Paris, and it became clear that anti-Semitism was not just historical, but a present and growing global reality. It was important to me to show that tyranny never ultimately succeeds in its objectives.What inspired you to illustrate such a visceral story, and why did you choose to work in sepia tones?
I’m an illustrator first, so I think in pictures. That’s how I approach writing, too. There are some concepts that work better in pictures than in words. I try not to mirror the text verbatim but to reinterpret for the viewer to see from a different angle. For example, in the illustration of Gerta lying under the roots of a tree, I wanted to convey an inner state of being that had to be felt rather than described. It’s important to try to feel another’s humanity in your own body, I think, even if it hurts, but then to release it back into the art so it doesn’t stay there. I tried to have the illustrations act as a point of reflection or personal placement for the reader. The sepia tones enabled me to communicate using the mood and familiarity of archival historical material while using metaphor as an alternative.Gerta’s music forms an enormous part of her identity and even saves her life in Auschwitz. Do you play an instrument? What role has music played in your life?
Yes, music has always been a huge part of my life. I come from a family of musicians and have been a performing and recording singer-songwriter since I was 15. My husband and I toured as Ben + Vesper, an indie-rock outfit, until a few years ago, when I had a car accident that altered my relationship to music. I’ve been slowly trying to regain my ability to play guitar over the last five years. The injury to my arm made me feel the loss of music very keenly, and Gerta’s character enabled me to wrestle with that. I’m still trying to figure out my relationship to my music, but I’m happy that the story’s not over. I do absolutely believe that music can save lives.What has your own experience with Judaism been like, and how did it inform this novel?
I was raised in a Reform home in New York. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a positive experience. However, I absorbed so much more of the Jewish ethos than I thought I had. That began to come through in my teen years when I had a spiritual awakening. The embrace of wrestling and questioning was very formative. My family life was tough, but I cannot imagine it any other way for the person it made me. I’m grateful to be re-engaging with my Jewish upbringing in very healing ways thanks to some special friends, especially in orthodox circles. To be sure, writing this book helped me work out some of the painful questions of my past. The question of what it means to be Jewish is one being asked of a lot of us, and the answer is certainly not monolithic.Most of What the Night Sings is stunningly realistic, but Gerta’s occasional visions of butterflies—especially at critical junctures—have the flavor of magical realism. Can you tell us a little more about what these butterflies represent?
A lot of my thought process in life happens in mystical tones. It’s funny; on one hand, I am a hyper-realist with a high premium on logical reasoning, but there’s an equally strong side to me that lives in constant engagement with metaphysical reality. I see meaning in everything, so I don’t mind mixing magical realism with history, because it’s real people who live history, and real people are metaphysical beings. The butterfly image came to me when a friend, also a singer, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. She was in real danger of losing her voice from the surgery and thankfully did not. The thyroid gland is shaped like a butterfly and is right near the source of the voice. When Gerta showed herself to be a singer, the butterfly kept making its appearance as a symbol of both her singing voice and her unfolding self-understanding.Roza’s mother once told her, “some things you do out of skill; some out of excitement. But some you do out of brokenness.” The numerous quick marriages might be an example of this; playing music or praying might be others. Do you think these actions help your characters become more whole?
There are people who can learn from watching others make mistakes, some who have to make the same mistake ten times before they choose a different approach, and some who never learn. We’re all on a journey, seeking wholeness or balance. Some find it, some don’t. But we’re all looking for it. For some survivors, the spontaneous marriages worked out beautifully; for some, not so much. There was such a collective will to defy Hitler and defeat his plans, that many pushed through to look for wholeness in the formation of their new families. I mean, think about that—you lose everyone, but something in you risks doing it again—not because of any promised result, but because of the human need to love and be loved. There’s no guarantee that it will work; none of us are given that. The same goes for pursuing music. Nothing says you’ll “make it.” But the hunger for more of music’s nourishment keeps the player moving forward. There are a ton of technically skilled musicians out there, but you dread listening to them because there’s no heart. You’ll always choose a musician with heart over one with stiff chops.Prayer is an interesting example. Many people think of prayer as a quid pro quo—“I pray, God checks my request off the list, therefore God is good or real.” But prayer has no guarantees, either. Like marriage or music, prayer is about the relationship, not about the result.
What do you hope your teen readers take away from this story?
I believe so strongly in this generation of teenagers as very clear thinkers. A lot of them are shaking off convenient labels in favor of thinking for themselves. Of course, the book might bring up larger external or historical questions—the nature of global anti-Semitism, totalitarianism, personal freedom, freedom of speech—but I really hope that readers connect deeply to the characters. I hope they see Gerta and Lev as peers, and as examples of two approaches to the question: Who, not just what, am I? This is a lifelong question that you don’t figure out by the time you’re 21—or 81. And I hope readers will connect to how much a person’s character really matters, above all other considerations, when choosing their circle of friends and partners.What’s next for you?
I’m working on a new illustrated novel, also historical fiction, centered on the Great Plague in medieval England. It’s exciting but incredibly challenging! - Reviews by Amos Lassen
http://reviewsbyamoslassen.com/?p=61874
Word count: 474“What the Night Sings” by Vesper Stamper— A Teen in the Holocaust
Leave a replyStamper, Vesper. “What the Night Sings”, Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2018.
A Teen in the Holocaust
Amos Lassen
When I was teaching seventh grade religious school at my temple in Arkansas, one of the units was “The Holocaust. I received a phone call from a member of the congregation, a woman I considered to be a friend and who was the mother of one of my students. She told me that she did not want her son to learn about the Holocaust because it was too upsetting for young minds. There was a problem in that her son had already spoken with me about how anxious he was to learn about it. Now I found myself in a delicate situation. I adhered to his mother’s wish by explaining to her son that he would be excused from class on those days but that he and I would meet privately and talk about the Holocaust and in that way I could not be accused of teaching him. Today that boy has his M.A. in Holocaust Studies. I agree that it is a difficult subject for youth and it is also an important subject that can always be delicately handled but we do have some great texts for young learners. (“The Book Thief” and “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” are two). Now we have a new is a beautifully illustrated novel about a teen Holocaust survivor who “must come to terms with who she is and how to rebuild her life.”
After losing her family and everything she knew in the Nazi concentration camps, Gerta is finally liberated, but she is completely alone. She also has lost her identity and she knows that she must get past just surviving and begin living her life. She is temporarily living in a displaced persons camp where she meets Lev, another teen survivor and discovers t Jewish identity she never knew she had, and a return to the life of music she thought she lost forever. Now she must decide how to build a new future.
This is a situation that the youth of today are generally ignorant of. Sure, they look for identity but they usually have family to fall back upon. This is a story of love, loss, and survival that is powerful and beautifully written. Gerta is one of those literary characters that stays with the reader long after the book is closed. Hers is a story of life, hope and redemption that had me smiling and weeping on the same page. The visual images, all in warm brown tones, are striking. This is a book that you do not want to miss.