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