Natasha Diaz asked Lisa Moore Ramée:

Did you base any of the characters in your book off of real people?

Lisa Moore Ramée I actually did have a two best friends in elementary school Paula--who is Puerto Rican and Alane--who is Japanese American who inspired Shayla's best friends Isabella and Julia, but Paula and Alane were nothing like the characters in AGKOT. The teachers in the book are inspired by teachers I've had, and the book club ladies are definitely my friends in my own book club!

And the unnamed officer who is on trial during most of AGKOT is based on the trial of the officer who killed Philando Castile, although the incidents in that case are different. I also included a mention of someone getting killed for selling cd's outside a store, and that character is based on Alton Sterling.

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