The Story That Cannot Be Told, deep fable for middle school readers

The Story That Cannot Be Told gives you the illusion of a very deceiving premise. It’s about Ileana, a young girl in communist Romania in WWII who has been sent to stay with her grandparents in the mountains. What’s surprising is that the book doesn’t focus on what you think it will. Instead, its story is all about telling stories and family. The result is a book that’s part fairy tale, historical snap shot, mythology and fictional story that feels real.

It’s one of those books that blur the line between reality and fiction so well that you’ll be researching aspects of it online to see if it’s true.  Author J. Kasper Kramer taught English in Japan. That in and of itself is nothing too unique, but while she was there she heard a vast collection of stories from her young students who were from all over the world. She started jotting down the different threads, researched communist Romania, circa 1989 and that’s the background for the story.

Ileana’s parents know that their freedoms are decreasing and their safety isn’t a guaranteed thing anymore. Her uncle hasn’t been heard from in weeks and once she arrives in the mountains with her grandparents it’s the exact opposite, for the moment. She has the chance to play, work in the garden, go shopping and do the normal things that a young girl would do.

As she spends more time in the village she learns about a mysterious old woman who seems to have a curiosity about her. There’s an old church where kids are told not to go, things that go bump in the nights and a slow sense of dread that goes along with the book.

This is a story about collecting stories. It’s a fascinating book that really holds your attention if it sucks you in. The vocabulary and topics are too much for most upper elementary school readers. Patient middle school readers who like a great story will enjoy The Story That Cannot Be Told. Putting WWII, fables and communism as your backdrop isn’t the easiest sell for a middle school reader. “I swear this book is fun and not educational at all!” the teacher said. It’s a tough book to categorize because its heart is all story-fable centered, but its backdrop is WWII.

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