A Goodreads user asked Jennifer A. Nielsen:

Hello Mrs. Nielsen I love the book "The Scourge" it was amazing. I couldn't stop reading it. The Scourge is an extraordinary book, and this book formed questions in my mind. The first one is how did you got inspired by The Scourge? The second one was how old is Ani, Weevil, Della and Jonas?Thank you for writing all these wonderful stories.

Jennifer A. Nielsen Thank you very much, Alice - I'm so glad you enjoyed it! The inspiration comes from a rather unusual source: the way we treated victims of leprosy in the 20th Century. Because although by then we knew what the disease was and how to cure it, it was still legal in many parts of the world to take a victim from their home and put them in a leper colony. The absurdity of that became the inspiration for the book.

Ani and Weevil are about 14. Della is 15 and Jonas is 16.

flag