Rahman-Stephens, Katrina (Indie)

As far back as she can remember, Katrina always loved books. She remembers taking what seemed to be a journey to the local library with her brothers to complete their annual summer book report assigned by their mother. Years later while attending Valdosta State University, Katrina was required to take a READ 4100 course. In that class, an assignment titled, “Books of a Common Thread” required her to choose 50 related books of choice and write a brief synopsis of each book. With her major being special education, she decided to choose books that displayed characters with disabilities. While shifting through the books on the shelves of the town’s local library, she noticed that there were not a lot of books that shined a positive light on characters, whether people or animals with disabilities, especially those that were deaf. She eventually found herself feeling flustered while sitting on the floor of the children’s section of the library. All of a sudden, a light began flickering. After completing her undergraduate studies in special education and returning to Valdosta State University to complete her graduate studies in deaf education, that light continued to flicker softly. It wasn’t until she had one of her many talks with her father about drumming and African culture when that soft light turned into a roaring flame. A few months later, she started developing her debut children’s book THE DRUM WITH NO SOUND.