Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty
Kate Messner is the author of dozens of books for kids, from picture books to novels. She’s won numerous awards and garnered starred reviews. Her middle-grade novel Breakout is the recipient of many of these, a book told entirely in documents about a rural town and a prison break which talks about many hard-to-discuss modern-day issues. We were thrilled to interview her about Breakout and her writing in general for this month’s feature!
RapunzelReads: Who is your favorite character in Breakout, and why?
Kate Messner: Originally, I think I would have told you that it was Nora. She's the character with whom I have the most in common. Like Nora, I grew up in a small town. My dad was the school superintendent rather than a prison superintendent, though. And like Nora, I was a journalist. That's what I studied at Syracuse University, and I worked in TV news for seven years before going back to school for my teaching degree. But as I wrote and rewrote the book, I think Elidee came to be my favorite. I love how she stands up for herself and ends up finding her voice.
RR: What books inspired you when you were growing up?
KM: I loved everything by Beverly Cleary, especially the Ramona books! And I also
Kate Messner is the author of dozens of books for kids, from picture books to novels. She’s won numerous awards and garnered starred reviews. Her middle-grade novel Breakout is the recipient of many of these, a book told entirely in documents about a rural town and a prison break which talks about many hard-to-discuss modern-day issues. We were thrilled to interview her about Breakout and her writing in general for this month’s feature!
RapunzelReads: Who is your favorite character in Breakout, and why?
Kate Messner: Originally, I think I would have told you that it was Nora. She's the character with whom I have the most in common. Like Nora, I grew up in a small town. My dad was the school superintendent rather than a prison superintendent, though. And like Nora, I was a journalist. That's what I studied at Syracuse University, and I worked in TV news for seven years before going back to school for my teaching degree. But as I wrote and rewrote the book, I think Elidee came to be my favorite. I love how she stands up for herself and ends up finding her voice.
RR: What books inspired you when you were growing up?
KM: I loved everything by Beverly Cleary, especially the Ramona books! And I also
loved to read nonfiction, especially nonfiction about natural disasters and dangerous animals
RR: What are you writing now?
KM: I have a new book called CHIRP coming out on February 4th. It's a mystery set on a cricket farm, and you can read a lot more about it here: https://www.katemessner.com/chirp/
And right now I'm working on a new nonfiction series called HISTORY SMASHERS, which aims to undo some of the lies and myths we teach kids about history.
RR: What was the hardest part of writing Breakout?
KM: BREAKOUT is a novel told entirely through different documents, so the hardest part was figuring out how they all fit together to make the story make sense. It was like working on a giant puzzle, and every time I made one little change, it affected so many other elements of the story.
RR: What are you writing now?
KM: I have a new book called CHIRP coming out on February 4th. It's a mystery set on a cricket farm, and you can read a lot more about it here: https://www.katemessner.com/chirp/
And right now I'm working on a new nonfiction series called HISTORY SMASHERS, which aims to undo some of the lies and myths we teach kids about history.
RR: What was the hardest part of writing Breakout?
KM: BREAKOUT is a novel told entirely through different documents, so the hardest part was figuring out how they all fit together to make the story make sense. It was like working on a giant puzzle, and every time I made one little change, it affected so many other elements of the story.
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