Meet Jane Kurtz, Author, Traveler, Teacher

Jane: Jakarta Missing is my most autobiographical novel, so I suppose I am more like Dakar than any of the other characters in my books. I show school children pictures of myself and my older sister--typical good, responsible oldest child and scamp of a second child--and realize just how much that relationship shaped me and thus my books. I think readers can see my childhood self in Dakar (Jakarta Missing) and Sarah (I'm Sorry Almira Ann) and Lillie (Bicycle Madness) and Saba (Saba: Under the Hyena's Foot). They can also see pieces of Caroline, my older sister, in the older siblings and friends of those novels. My determination is part of both girls in The Storyteller's Beads--and my love of stories and storytelling can be seen in them and other of my characters.

3.Sue: What did you enjoy the most about your most recent trip to Africa? (I do envy your travels!!)

Jane: My spring trip to Africa took me to countries I had never seen--Uganda and Nigeria--which led to an especially rich and textured experience. All across the continent, I heard educated Africans talk about how much their countries need to develop "a reading culture," and it was fascinating to reflect on our own culture and how we managed to develop that...and perhaps are in danger of losing it. But my favorite time had to be the opening of the children's reading center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Yohannes, the director, and I had worked on making the center a reality for six years. To see all those books we shipped (15,000 of them) and know that we had provided the first library services for children in the whole city of three million people was a soaring moment. Of course, since we are such a grassroots organization, I told Yohannes that the center might only be able to stay open two weeks...but that dire concern hasn't turned out to be true, either :>

4.Sue: What did your enjoy the most and the least about writing "Bicycle Madness"?

Jane: I love history. Why? I didn't much like it in school. I suppose there is something about projecting oneself into a different time that is like my experiences of growing up in such a different place from my peers. I've struggled to make Ethiopia into a real place for readers. It's somewhat similar to struggle to make a

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