Q&A with Kate Messner

  

Photo by Andy Duback

 

 

Kate Messner is the author of the new middle grade book History Smashers: The Space Race, the latest in her History Smashers series. She lives on Lake Champlain. 

 

Q: What inspired you to focus on the space race in your new History Smashers book?

A: History Smashers: The Space Race is the 14th title in our myth-busting history series, so I’ve been lucky enough to share these books with thousands of kids in their schools and libraries. Readers love to hear the stories behind my research, and they’re also full of ideas for what topics the series should tackle next.

 

The Space Race and the Cold War have both come up so many times in our Q&A sessions that I knew kids would be fascinated by this period in history, and the renewed fascination in space exploration surrounding the Artemis II Mission only makes that spark stronger.

 

Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?

A: When I’m doing research for the History Smashers series, I always lean heavily on primary source material, and fortunately there’s no shortage of that when it comes to the Space Race.

 

What surprised me most was information that came from some fairly recently declassified documents that revealed just how deeply German space scientists like Wernher von Braun were involved in Hitler’s Nazi government. 

 

When I’m dealing with more recent history in this series, I also love to interview current experts in the field. I visit lots of specialized research libraries and museums, and for this book, I was also able to tour NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena and interview then-director Dr. Laurie Leshin, who was the first woman to lead JPL and shared some great insights about the role of failure in space exploration.

 

Q: What do you think Falynn Koch’s illustrations add to the book?

A: Falynn is an absolutely incredible comic artist, and I’m so lucky that I get to work with her on this series (along with Dylan Meconis, who illustrated the first three books and has been doing the covers since the series began). 

 

A lot of people don’t realize how much research goes into illustrating nonfiction books for kids, but Falynn is constantly checking reference photos and researching historical details to make sure the art is as accurate as the text.

 

She’s also brilliant when it comes to the humor of this series (like in the sidebar called “A Wee Problem” about the day Alan Shepard peed his spacesuit just before he became the first American in space.)

 

Q: What are some of the most common perceptions and misconceptions about the space race?

A: A lot of people don’t realize that after World War II, the United States imported Nazi rocket scientists to kickstart the American space program. (The US/Soviet Space Race actually began with a literal race through Germany to search out those scientists as the war ended!) 

 

And you know that famous moon landing photo? Most people who see it assume they’re looking at Neil Armstrong, who was the first person to walk on the moon. But it's actually his fellow astronaut, Buzz Aldrin. Armstrong was behind the camera taking the photo (though you can see him in the reflection on Aldrin’s helmet if you look carefully!).

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: The great thing about a series like History Smashers is that when kids fall in love with it, they absolutely fly through the books, so I’m always working on the next one.

 

I’m currently wrapping up edits for History Smashers: Wildfires, which comes out in 2027, and I just turned in my manuscript for History Smashers: Olympics, which comes out in 2028, just in time for the Summer Games in Los Angeles.

 

I also have a new novel coming in February – a Broadway ghost story called Keep the Ghost Light On. It’s about three kids who break into a shuttered Broadway theater to rehearse their own play and find it haunted by the ghost of an angry showgirl who follows one of them home.

 

It’s written partly in musical theater scenes, directed by the ghost, and readers will be able to listen to the songs online as they read. The first one is already available at bit.ly/ktglo.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I think you’ve got everything covered – thanks so much for the conversation!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Ricardo Santa Cruz

  

Photo by Mary Sasso

 

 

Ricardo Santa Cruz is the author of the new children's picture book The Boy and His Higher Self. He also has written the picture book My First Day of School. He is an entrepreneur, and he lives in Xala, Mexico.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Boy and His Higher Self?

 

A: Honestly, I never set out to write a children’s book. This story came to life in the most unexpected way. My mentor at the time had given me an open-ended writing exercise — no rules, no format, just an invitation to explore and get to know my true self more deeply.

 

One evening, I sat down, and the words simply poured out of me. Thirty minutes later, the book was written. It wasn’t planned or plotted — it was felt. Looking back, I believe it came through me rather than from me.

 

That experience alone taught me something profound: when you’re connected to your higher self, creativity flows in ways you never imagined possible.

 

Q: What do you think Yuko Kondo’s illustrations add to the story?

 

A: Yuko’s illustrations are nothing short of magical. The higher self is an abstract, deeply personal concept — even adults struggle to grasp it. What Yuko managed to do was give it a face, a warmth, and a presence that children can immediately feel and relate to.

 

His art doesn’t just decorate the story — it completes it. When a child looks at those pages, they don’t need to intellectually understand what the higher self is. They feel it. And that feeling is everything.

 

Q: How would you describe the relationship between the boy and his higher self?

 

A: It mirrors what most of us experience in real life. In the beginning, the boy feels alone — disconnected from something he can’t quite name but somehow senses is there. That quiet inner voice feels distant, even foreign.

 

But as he begins to slow down, listen, and tune inward, he discovers something remarkable: his higher self was never gone. It had been with him all along, patiently waiting.

 

That relationship becomes the ultimate friendship — one built on trust, guidance, and unconditional care. The higher self isn’t a judge or a critic. It’s the wisest, most loving part of who we are, always pointing us toward our best path.

 

Q: What do you hope kids take away from the book?

 

A: I want every child who reads this book to walk away knowing one simple but life-changing truth: that voice inside of you is real. Don’t ignore it. Don’t let the noise of the world drown it out. Nurture it. Pay attention to it every single day.

 

Because no matter how lost or alone you might feel at any point in your life, your higher self is always there — always in your corner, always guiding you home. You are never truly alone. If children can hold onto that truth, it will serve them for the rest of their lives.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m putting the finishing touches on my first adult book, and I’m genuinely excited and a little vulnerable about it. It’s a deeply personal story about reaching what the world would call the pinnacle of success — and realizing it wasn’t enough.

 

At the height of my career, I had built companies, developed world-class real estate projects, and achieved financial freedom. And yet something was profoundly missing. Through years of inner work, I came to understand that my life had been running on an invisible program — beliefs, patterns, and conditioning I had never chosen consciously.

 

The book is about the journey of seeing that program clearly for the first time, breaking free from it, and discovering what real fulfillment actually feels like. It’s the book I wish someone had handed me earlier on in my life.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: For most of my life, I defined myself by my achievements. I built a healthcare company at 25, pivoted into luxury real estate development, and poured everything I had into building things of significance.

 

But in chasing success, I lost touch with the most important thing — myself. It took years of dedicated inner work with a mentor I deeply trust to find my way back.

 

Writing these children’s books has been both joyful and meaningful. I believe that the messages in these stories — about self-worth, inner guidance, and knowing you are never alone — are things every child needs to hear.

 

And what makes this even more special is that every single dollar from the sale of these books goes directly to charity, supporting programs that help underprivileged children build self-esteem, confidence, and a strong sense of who they are.

 

Success taught me a lot. But coming home to myself taught me everything.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. This Q&A was prepared in collaboration with Ricardo Santa Cruz. Readers who follow along on this virtual book tour will have the chance to win one of three book sets, each featuring both The Boy and His Higher Self and My First Day of School.  

Aug. 21

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Aug. 21, 1937: Robert Stone born.

Q&A with Poppy Alexander

  

 

 

Poppy Alexander is the author of the new novel How to Find a Romance in a Bookshop. Her other novels include The Battle of the Bookshops. She also writes under the name Rosie Howard, and she lives in West Sussex, UK. 

 

Q: Why did you return to the village of Portneath, and specifically Capelthorne’s Bookshop, in your new novel?

 

A: How could I not? When I created Capelthorne’s for my previous novel, The Battle of the Bookshops, I poured my heart into creating the best bookshop in the entire world (in a world where I am in charge, that is!). The result was just too good not to use again.

 

Also, I adore returning in my head to the world of Portneath, the small-town seaside Devonshire location with its cast of characters, beautiful countryside, stunning beaches, good food, and covetable homes so – when Petra and Ross’s story starting being created in my mind, Capelthorne’s was the only place I could visualise them being.

 

Q: How did you create your characters Petra and Ross?

 

A: In my professional life, I have met a lot of Petras. There are so many really clever, hard-working young women in publishing, and it can be a hard taskmaster as an industry. I wanted to honour all of those women by creating Petra’s character.

 

I also hope her journey will encourage some of those young women to believe in their ability to bounce back when things don’t go as planned.

 

I didn’t work in publishing, but when I was younger, I was trying so hard to succeed at work, and worrying constantly about the prospect of doing something wrong and “ruining my life,” which is definitely how I would have seen it at the time.

 

I want to show all those women how important it is to have resilience and self-belief. To have those things you have got to have good people in your life, which also means not spending every waking hour working!

 

As for Ross – well – creative people can be fragile, and I should know because I am married to one.

 

Most authors’ experience of publishing is not the experience people outside that world would recognise. It can be a rollercoaster of high and low points, which – if you are defining your worth by your book sales – can be tough.

 

Like Petra, Ross has to learn to get out of his own head occasionally and take a good look around him.

 

Q: What do you think the novel says about stress in the publishing world?

 

A: I adore the publishing industry and feel incredibly lucky to be doing the job I love best in the world. I do feel I am also really privileged that I am mostly allowed to be in my own mind palace for long stretches.

 

Just occasionally, I resurface and engage with the team of people who are turning my work into a form that gets into the hands of readers, which is a phenomenally complex process.

 

I am in awe of the people who work together to make that happen! The passion and love for stories really shines out of everyone I meet in the industry, and absolutely everybody works very hard.

 

It’s a weird industry to be in at the moment though, with readers looking for different experiences. E-book sales are becoming really important and that leaves physical bookstores needing to recalibrate their place in the market, and then there is the role of AI in storytelling (my position: AI has no place in storytelling, and I strongly believe readers will always prefer books written by humans).

 

Change is inevitable, and the doomsters have always been vocal, but I believe publishing will continue to innovate and remain relevant, because humans need stories. That is not going to change.

 

Q: The author Jo Leevers called the book an “enchanting romance that explores the healing power of books and community, which is also sprinkled with insider insights into the publishing world.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Jo is so lovely to say that, and I was glowing because she is such an amazing writer herself. It has always been my experience that authors do a great job of supporting each other, and Jo taking time to read and comment is proof positive of that.

 

As for what she said: I absolutely believe people need books and also that people need people. When I write my stories from inside the Portneath community, I am writing in the belief we all need a perfect world to escape to. Hopefully most of us can count on our romantic partners, our family and our friends to help us celebrate the good times and survive the bad.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I actually have several Poppy Alexander titles coming out over the course of the next year, a whole new series, moving on from Portneath, but still with plenty of heart and escapism.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I am so grateful to all my lovely readers for reading and being kind enough to let me know when they have enjoyed my stories.

 

To be in the know, readers are welcome to visit poppyalexander.com and make sure to sign up to my e-newsletter for news, insights, bonus content and giveaways. I confess, I don’t write often, so don’t worry about being bombarded! I am too busy writing new stories for that. 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Poppy Alexander. 

Q&A with Rae Cline

  

 

 

Rae Cline is the author of the new novel Precious Ugly. She also has written the story collection The Indefinite State of Imaginary Morals. She lives in New York City and the Gulf of Mexico.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Precious Ugly, and how did you create your character Clementine?

 

A: Like Clementine and so many girls, my childhood was an exercise in survival. For many, I think, and certainly for me, surviving dysfunction as a child doesn’t feel like surviving dysfunction. It feels normal. It’s all you know. It takes a lifetime to unpack and process the surviving.

 

I knew things were off, not right, but I hadn’t the language for it and it would take me years to learn the language for it.

 

In those years, I trained as a teacher of literature and writing. I worked with children in public schools and also at-risk youth at Hoffman Homes and other programs where I saw children surviving similar circumstances.

 

Clementine may have begun as an exploration of my survival and finding my voice, but as Clementine continued to form, she took on something bigger. She speaks for the experiences of many girls.  

 

Q: How was the novel’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: Precious Ugly was in final editing with a completely different title and cover when a close friend and mentor, Richard Peabody, suggested Precious Ugly. This was a title I had considered earlier and had workshopped with others and then gone with something else.

 

But when Richard suggested Precious Ugly, something clicked for me and that was it. Precious Ugly. Much gratitude to my publisher and editor, Leland Cheuk, cover artist, Lex Covato, and cover designer, Gigi Little, for the last-minute title and cover changes.

 

The title, Precious Ugly, speaks to a few scenes through the novel in which Clementine views herself in this way, precious ugly, not only within her terrible family circumstances but also peer bullying.

 

And if I’m to be honest, this was how I saw myself growing up, too, an awkward girl surviving bullying at home and school and really having nowhere to turn for help.

 

Q: The writer Jordan Ritter Conn said of the book, “Gorgeous, brutal, and moving, Precious Ugly is a powerful testament to human resilience.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: As terrible as life can be, especially for vulnerable girls, I am astounded at the resilience of survivors.

 

Jordan’s words made me tear up when I first read them. He is a terrific writer. American Men is a must read for everyone. For Jordan to see the beauty in Clementine’s story, in spite of the brutality, and her resiliency in response to it is what I had hoped readers would feel.

 

Life can be a scary, unrelenting place, especially for girls and women, especially now, in this country, a socio-economic and socio-political horror show that the novel explores in a sort of proto-MAGA, Reagan-‘80s-era kind of way.

 

I’m reminded of Mary Shelley and the “sublime” about which she wrote in Frankenstein, a sort of chiaroscuro response to the beautiful and terrifying, like watching an avalanche at Mont Blanc.

 

This moment in our country’s history feels “sublime” to me through a paradoxical lens. I see the work of so many strong female voices and change makers in our country, now—Michelle Obama, Melinda French Gates, Oprah Winfrey, A.O.C—and I see these voices and leaders as forging a new path for women’s and civil  rights, taking back the conversations on domestic violence, reproductive rights, women’s healthcare and research, women’s policies and leadership.

 

We are on the proverbial cliff, it feels at times, a precipice, and the avalanche of change that I am hopeful for, the gender and diversity the current administration so desperately rails against, is poised to fall down upon them. It is both a beautiful and terrifying rush to imagine. And I’m here for it.

 

Jordan’s words, “testament to human resilience,” is how I read Clementine’s story, too. It is the story of those of us who have survived domestic violence and sexual violence. Those who have survived sex trafficking and yearning for that avalanche to finally drop from its precipice and blanket the cliff, once and for all.

 

If Clementine were on Capitol Hill, right now, she would be lobbying for safe reproductive healthcare for all, the full, transparent release of the Epstein files and restoration of DEI funding. And a change in educational leadership. Whoever thought Linda McMahon was a suitable secretary of education was on something.

 

Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: I had no idea how Precious Ugly would end when I started. I didn’t want to know how Precious Ugly would end. For me, the act of writing is a process of discovery. Discovery is an essential  point of the craft. I want to discover the characters and what the story communicates to them and me.

 

In my first writing workshop at Johns Hopkins, I was fortunate to study with Alice McDermott, arguably the master prosaist of our time. Her language is immaculate. She shared so many wisdoms with us on craft in that workshop, one of them being on the process of writing and letting discovery be the lead. “Follow the fun,” she said.

 

I wrote Precious Ugly over 14 years and I tried to follow that advice, follow the fun, which isn’t so easy when the story is so brutal, so I found the fun in the craft of it, the moments when, despite the horror, Clementine found humor and absurdity. This was my fun.

 

And when I could find that fun in the crafting of the story, it helped me not only process Clementine’s story but also my story and also the stories of so many girls I worked with over the years, the stories that still sometimes keep me up at night.

 

While writing Precious Ugly, I learned not only the craft of long form narrative but also what my voice wanted to be in long form narrative.

 

Writing Precious Ugly nearly killed me, more than once. It is the kind of narrative that forces you to reconcile the things you would rather pretend never happened and that for so many years you did pretend did not happen. The silence was easier than the reality.

 

Clementine deserved my absolute best that I could muster and when I first started the novel 14 years ago, I was not worthy of her story. So I worked diligently and studied diligently and read diligently, masterworks like I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Beloved, and tried as hard as I could to deliver my best craft for Clementine.

 

Anything less than my best would be a failure for this 13-year-old girl who survived so much. It would be a failure for all the girls out there right now who are still surviving and all the women who are still surviving and the boys and the men and the non-binary still surviving. She speaks for so many and my voice needed to be worthy of them all.

 

Did I know how the novel would end before starting it? No. Have I made it worthy of her? I don’t know. But I know that I gave it my best in trying. In all this, I may not have known how the story would end when I started, but something tells me that Clementine did.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m writing my second novel about a small town with local lore come to life. It opens with the Heritage Day Parade and a scarecrow contest that turns terribly wrong.

 

I’m a big fan of Toni Morrison and Shirley Jackson. Beloved and “The Lottery” are two favorite works. I love exploring small-town communities that so quickly turn themselves inside out, the townsfolk pitted against each other in extraordinary and magical ways that present as so mundane and normal.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I am collaborating with the National Domestic Violence Hotline to spread awareness about domestic and sexual violence in the U.S. We’ve added the hotline to the final pages of the book and on the back cover.

 

I found myself in a women’s shelter at one point in my life and know first-hand the essential work that NDVH and women’s and children’s shelters do. If any readers are experiencing domestic violence or know someone who is experiencing domestic violence, call 1-800-799-SAFE or text “START” to 88788.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Aug. 19

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Aug. 19, 1930: Frank McCourt born.

Q&A with Brad Newbury and Kiera Newbury

  

 

 

Brad Newbury and Kiera Newbury are the authors of the new book The Saved Effect: True Stories of Lives Reclaimed by People Who Were Afraid to Act. Brad Newbury is the president and CEO of the National Medical Education & Training Center. Kiera Newbury is an emergency medical professional.  

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Saved Effect?

 

A: The Saved Effect began with a simple realization: when someone saves a life, the story does not end when the heartbeat returns.

 

As a paramedic and firefighter, Brad has spent more than four decades responding to people on the worst days of their lives. Kiera grew up inside that world, watching how those moments shaped not only the people who were saved, but also the rescuers, families, clinicians, and communities connected to them.

 

The most personal inspiration came from Brad’s father, Joe, who survived a cardiac arrest because someone nearby was willing to begin CPR. His survival gave our family more moments together, including moments that would not have otherwise happened.

 

That experience helped us understand that one person’s willingness to act can create a ripple effect that reaches far beyond the initial rescue.

 

We wrote this book to honor those who stepped forward, to show what happened afterward, and to remind readers that ordinary people can be prepared for extraordinary moments.

 

Q: How did you choose the stories to include in the book?

 

A: We chose stories that demonstrated the many different ways one act of courage can continue to affect lives.

 

Some involve trained first responders or healthcare professionals. Others involve bystanders, family members, coworkers, or complete strangers who simply recognized that someone needed help and decided to act.

 

We were not only looking for dramatic rescues. We wanted stories that revealed what followed: the relationships that were strengthened, the families that remained connected, the purposes that were discovered, and the rescuers who were changed by what they experienced.

 

Each story is different, but they all share the same invisible thread. Someone was in crisis. Someone else was willing to step forward. From that moment, lives changed on both sides of the rescue.

 

Q: You write, “The Saved Effect shows that saving a life isn’t just about restoring a heartbeat, it’s about preserving the years, memories, and generations that follow.” Can you say more about that?

 

A: A successful resuscitation is often described clinically. We talk about return of spontaneous circulation, survival to discharge, or neurological outcomes. Those measurements matter, but they do not tell the whole story.

 

Behind every heartbeat is a person who is someone’s parent, child, spouse, friend, teacher, coworker, or neighbor. When that person survives, birthdays can still be celebrated, conversations can still happen, relationships can continue, and new memories can be created.

 

However, we have also learned that life is not measured only in years. It is measured in moments. Sometimes a person is given decades. Sometimes the time is much shorter. What matters is what becomes possible because someone acted.

 

A rescue can preserve a wedding, a graduation, a final conversation, a chance to say “I love you,” or simply another ordinary day together. Those moments continue to influence families and future generations. That is the saved effect.

 

Q: What impact did it have on you to write this book, and what do you hope readers take away from it?

 

A: Writing this book changed both of us.

 

For Brad, it required revisiting four decades of service and looking beyond the medical outcomes to consider the emotional impact of the work.

 

First responders are often trained to move quickly from one call to the next. Writing these stories created an opportunity to pause and understand how deeply these moments can shape the rescuer as well as the person being rescued.

 

For Kiera, the process brought a new understanding of the world she grew up around and helped her see how her family’s experiences had shaped her own sense of purpose.

 

We hope readers finish the book inspired, but we also want them to take action. We want people to learn CPR, become comfortable using an AED, and believe they are capable of helping when a crisis occurs.

 

You do not need to be a physician, nurse, firefighter, or paramedic to save a life. Often, the most important person is simply the one who is already there and is willing to begin.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Our immediate focus is expanding the mission behind The Saved Effect.

 

We are working with educators, first responders, healthcare professionals, CPR organizations, businesses, and community leaders to encourage more people to become trained and prepared to act. We are also developing educational programs, speaking opportunities, and media projects that will continue sharing the stories of survivors and rescuers.

 

Brad continues to serve as a Fire Captain and paramedic while leading the National Medical Education & Training Center, which educates EMTs and paramedics across the country. Kiera is continuing her work in emergency medicine and helping build the next chapter of The Saved Effect.

 

We believe the book is not the conclusion of this work. It is the beginning of a much larger movement centered on readiness, courage, and human connection.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: At its heart, The Saved Effect is not only a book about cardiac arrest or emergency medicine. It is a book about what human beings are capable of doing for one another.

 

Most people will never expect to be present when someone’s life depends on immediate action. But every day, ordinary people suddenly find themselves in that exact position.

 

Our message is simple: Be Inspired, Get Trained in CPR, and Be Willing to act.

 

You may never need to use those skills. But if the moment comes, your actions could preserve a family, a future, and countless moments you may never personally see.

 

That is the power of The Saved Effect.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb