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Vesper
Young Adult Novelist & Illustrator
National Book Award Longlist
Travels from: Newark, NJ

“She had our kids on the edge of their seats!” — Robin Stiles, Library Media Specialist, New Milford High School, New Milford, CT

Born in Germany and raised in New York City, Vesper Stamper has been an illustrator for over 20 years and also writes and illustrates novels of historical fiction, including her newest novel, A Cloud of Outrageous Blue, about the Great Plague of 1348. Her debut illustrated YA novel, What the Night Sings, about the experience of teenager after the Holocaust , was a National Book Award Nominee, a National Jewish Book Award Finalist, a Morris Award Finalist, Golden Kite Honor Book and Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner, and was named one of the Best YA Books of 2018/9 by YALSA, the Wall Street Journal and Kirkus. Vesper has a BFA in Illustration from Parsons and an MFA in Illustration as Visual Essay from School of Visual Arts and is the host of the podcast Vesperisms: The Art of Thinking for Yourself, which aims to cultivate a rehumanized worldview through artistic thinking. She lives with her husband, filmmaker Ben Stamper, and her two teenagers, in the Northeast.

Since Vesper is an author-illustrator, she’s able to bring an immense amount of value to your school or community. High school, college, museum or other visits can include: Book presentation with film and talk; Q&A and signing; Art and writing class critiques; Art technique workshops; Portfolio reviews for aspiring college applicants and students; Holocaust history lessons; Music history/ appreciation classes,…and more! Her latest book, Berliners, will be released in October 2022.

Vesper’s Authors Out Loud Profile: 

Vesper's Featured Titles

Berliners

Knopf Books for Young Readers |
YA Novel

A riveting story about the rivalry between two brothers living on opposite sides of the Berlin wall during its construction in the 1960s, and how their complicated legacy and dreams of greatness will determine their ultimate fate.

A city divided. A family fractured. Two brothers caught between past and present.
Berlin, 1961. Rudi Möser-Fleischmann is an aspiring photographer with dreams of greatness, but he can’t hold a candle to his talented, charismatic twin brother Peter, an ambitious actor. With the sudden divorce of their parents, the brothers find themselves living in different sectors of a divided Berlin; the postwar partition strangely mirroring their broken family. But one night, as the city sleeps, the Berlin Wall is hurriedly built, dividing society further, and Rudi and Peter are forced to choose between playing by the rules and taking their dreams underground. That is, until the truth about their family history and the growing cracks in their relationship threaten to split them apart for good.

From National Book Award-nominated, critically acclaimed author-illustrator Vesper Stamper comes a stark look at how resentment and denial can strain the bonds of brotherhood to the breaking point.

A Most Clever Girl: How Jane Austen Discovered Her Voice

Bloomsbury Children’s Books |
Nonfiction

Witty and mischievous Jane Austen grew up in a house overflowing with words. As a young girl, she delighted in making her family laugh with tales that poked fun at the popular novels of her time, stories that featured fragile ladies and ridiculous plots. Before long, Jane was writing her own stories-uproariously funny ones, using all the details of her life in a country village as inspiration.

In times of joy, Jane’s words burst from her pen. But after facing sorrow and loss, she wondered if she’d ever write again. Jane realized her writing would not be truly her own until she found her unique voice. She didn’t know it then, but that voice would go on to capture readers’ hearts and minds for generations to come.

A Cloud Of Outrageous Blue

Knopf Books for Young Readers |
YA Novel

For fans of Fever 1793 comes the story of a young woman paving her own path and falling in love during the Great Plague of 1348from the award-winning creator of What the Night Sings.

Edyth grew up in a quiet village with a loving family, before losing everything she holds dear in the blink of an eye. Suddenly sent to live in a priory and work with ancient texts, Edyth must come to terms with her new life and the gifts she discovers in herself. But outside the priory, something much worse is coming. With the reappearance of a boy from her past and the ominous Great Plague creeping closer and closer to the priory, it will be up to Edyth to rise above it all and save herself.

From the award-winning author-illustrator of What the Night Sings comes a new journey of self-discovery and love in the most uncertain times.

What The Night Sings

Knopf Books for Young Readers |
YA Novel

A Morris Award Finalist
Longlisted for the National Book Award

For fans of The Book Thief and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas comes a lushly illustrated novel about a teen Holocaust survivor who must come to terms with who she is and how to rebuild her life.

“A tour de force. This powerful story of love, loss, and survival is not to be missed.” –KRISTIN HANNAH, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale

After losing her family and everything she knew in the Nazi concentration camps, Gerta is finally liberated, only to find herself completely alone. Without her papa, her music, or even her true identity, she must move past the task of surviving and on to living her life. In the displaced persons camp where she is staying, Gerta meets Lev, a fellow teen survivor who she just might be falling for, despite her feelings for someone else. With a newfound Jewish identity she never knew she had, and a return to the life of music she thought she lost forever, Gerta must choose how to build a new future.

What the Night Sings is a book from the heart, of the heart, and to the heart. Vesper Stamper’s Gerta will stay with you long after you turn the last page. Her story is one of hope and redemption and life–a blessing to the world.” –Deborah Heiligman, award-winning author of Charles and Emma and Vincent and Theo

WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST CHILDREN’S BOOK OF 2018
KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF 2018

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Illustrating the Unthinkable: Visual Narratives of Germany’s Nazi Past

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Art and Writing Class Critiques

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Art Technique Workshops

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Portfolio Reviews

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Holocaust History Lessons

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Music History/Appreciation

Vesper’s Portfolio

For Book Clubs

Vesper’s Upcoming Events

Vesper’s Press Clips

Honors, Awards & Recognition

2019 National Jewish Book Award Finalist in Young Adult Literature
2018 National Book Award Nominee in Young People’s Literature
2018 Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner
2018 William C. Morris Debut Award Finalist
2018 Golden Kite Honor Book (SCBWI)
2019 White Raven Book (Internationale Jugendbibliothek)
2019 TAYSHAS Selection (Texas Library Association)
2020 Oklahoma Sequoyah Award Selection
TENT Children’s Book Residency, Yiddish Book Center, Amherst, MA
People’s Choice Finalist, Lilla Rogers Global Talent Search
Lincoln City Fellowship, Speranza Foundation
Center for Faith and Work Artist-in-Residence, NYC
SCBWI New Jersey Juried Show Grand Prize, 2014 and 2017
SCBWI New Jersey People’s Choice, 2014

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.

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