Kate Messner

@katemessner

NYT bestselling author of 70+ books for kids. Educator. Speaker. Adirondack 46er. Passionately curious. Latest book: THE TROUBLE WITH HEROES www.katemessner.com

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Kate Messner@katemessner· 4d

Things you'll find on the landing page for my Broadway ghost story KEEP THE GHOST LIGHT ON: -music video for "Daphne's 'I Want' Song" -sheet music -invite for my virtual author-in-residence program -teaching & discussion guide (it's a great book club pick!) bloomsbury.my.canva.site/keep-the-gho...

Book cover for KEEP THE GHOST LIGHT ON by NYT Bestselling author Kate Messner has white title font against a black background framed by red theatrical curtains and red feathers falling - also a ghost light glowing from the center of the cover. Novel has stenciled edges with vintage typewriter font and more falling red feathers.

Kate Messner@katemessner· Jul 7

Finn, Seymour, and I are celebrating a paperback book birthday today! (Finn is off hiking, Seymour is busy drooling, and I'm celebrating by writing my next book - whee!) Hope you'll pick up a copy of THE TROUBLE WITH HEROES for your favorite reader who loves adventure, humor, and drooly dogs.

Author Kate Messner holding a copy of THE TROUBLE WITH HEROES, a novel with a middle school boy and a Bernese mountain dog on the cover, with a lake in the background.

Kate Messner@katemessner· Jul 5

Teachers & Librarians Write, our free online summer writing camp for teachers and librarians, starts tomorrow!! Are you signed up yet? katemessner.com/get-ready-fo...

Open notebook on a mountain top with white text: TEACHERS & LIBRARIANS WRITE: A FREE ONLINE SUMMER WRITING CAMP ESPECIALLY FOR TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS STARTING JULY 6

Kate Messner@katemessner· Jun 27

If you're at #ALAAC2026 this weekend, please come find me to say hello and get a book! I'll be signing with @randomhousekids.bsky.social Saturday and with @harpercollins.bsky.social, @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social, and @chroniclekidsbooks.bsky.social on Sunday!

Bright yellow graphic with Kate Messner's free book signings at ALA2026 in Chicago:

SATURDAY
AXOLOTL-ELLA
4:45pm at Random House - Booth 2412
SUNDAY
THE WHALE'S TALE & THE OTTER'S SIDE OF THE STORY
9-9:30am at HarperCollins - Booth 3912
KEEP THE GHOST LIGHT ON (Advance reader copies)
11am-12pm at Bloomsbury - Booth 2529
OVER AND UNDER THE CORAL REEF
3-4pm at Chronicle - Booth 3625

Kate Messner@katemessner· Jun 27

Kicked off the ALA Conference in style last night at the launch party for Ten Speed Young Readers & got to celebrate AXOLOTL-ELLA: A SORT OF CINDERELLA STORY (with art by @liantomato.bsky.social!) with my agent @literaticat.bsky.social!

Author Kate Messner standing with agent Jennifer Laughran next to a pile of pink plush axolotls and a large poster of AXOLOTL-ELLA: A SORT OF CINDERELLA STORY with a bright pink dancing axolotl on the cover.

Kate Messner@katemessner· Jun 25

Incredibly humbled that the New Atlantic Booksellers Association has named THE TROUBLE WITH HEROES its MG Book of the Year for 2026! I'm so, so grateful to all of the booksellers who have been sharing this novel since it came out last year. Thank you!! ❤️

Sunset sky graphic with clouds and black text against a white background that reads: THANK YOU BOOKSELLERS - NAIBA 2026 BOOK OF THE YEAR! Book cover shows a bluebird sky with a middle school boy wearing an orange backpack, standing on a mountain summit with a Bernese mountain dog looking up at him.

Kate Messner@katemessner· Jun 19

Vermont friends! Bring the kids tomorrow and join us in Burlington for Fletcher Free Library's Summer Challenge Kickoff! There will be authors, giveaways, read-alouds, and Vermont Lake Monsters players, and word is that Champ will be there to take photos & sign autographs, too!

Graphic for MEET THE AUTHORS event at Fletcher Free Library 235 College St. Burlington Saturday, June 20 from 10am to noon with Dayna Lorentz, Kekla Magoon, Kate Messner, and Chris Tebbetts

Kate Messner@katemessner· Jun 15

Just had the first recording session for the music that composer Haley Bennett wrote for my new Broadway ghost story KEEP THE GHOST LIGHT ON & look who's on vocals! Yep - that's Gianna Harris - who plays the title role in & JULIET on Broadway! Can't wait to share the first song with you soon!

Composer Haley Bennett at the piano while actor Gianna Harris (in a Knicks shirt!) stands at a music stand singing

& Juliet star Gianna Harris stands at a mic in a recording studio

Kate Messner@katemessner· May 21

It's COVER REVEAL DAY for KEEP THE GHOST LIGHT ON! Shoutout to illustrator Leo Nickolls, who created the amazing cover art; Patrick Collins, who designed the stenciled edges, and art director Jeanette Levy, who pulled it all together. Learn more & preorder: bloomsbury.my.canva.site/keep-the-gho...

Red curtain with black background and red feathers falling - white text reads: "I've read a lot of ghost stories. But this one will haunt me for a long time..." -R.L Stine, author of Goosebumps and Fear Street.

coming February 23, 2027 - Bloomsbury

Book cover KEEP THE GHOST LIGHT ON by NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR KATE MESSNER has white title font with a ghost light on a cast iron stand in the middle of the cover, a red theatrical curtain framing the title, and red feathers falling around it.

Kate Messner@katemessner· May 20

Writer friends! The AI-generated email scams targeting authors are getting more sophisticated. I got one today w/ a real editor's name on it, which could be very convincing to someone who doesn't know how actual editors communicate, so I annotated it to highlight red flags. Spread the word, ok?

Photo shows an email that reads:

From: Allison hunter Hill <allisonhunterh@gmail.com>
Subject: Loved the storytelling in Disaster on the Titanic

Message Body:
Hi Kate,

I recently read *Disaster on the Titanic (Ranger in Time #9)*, and I really appreciated how effectively you combine historical detail with fast-moving adventure in a way that feels both exciting and emotionally grounded for young readers. The tension builds naturally throughout the story, and Ranger’s perspective adds a unique warmth and accessibility that makes the historical setting especially engaging.

I’m Allison Hunter, Senior Editor at Nosy Crow US, where I’m currently building a focused list of character-driven, voice-led middle grade fiction. Your work aligns closely with the kind of immersive, emotionally resonant storytelling I’m actively looking to develop for young readers.

I’m reaching out because I’m reviewing a small number of upcoming projects over the next couple of weeks. I’d love the chance to see what you’re working on next or learn more about any new middle grade adventures you may be developing.

If you’re open to it, I’d be glad to connect through your agent.

Warm regards,
Allison Hunter
Senior Editor
Nosy Crow US

It's annotated in red to highlight the following:
Not sent from publisher email.
Weirdly formal opening paragraph - this is AI voice.
Strange that introduction didn't come first.
What does the sentence about "reviewing upcoming projects" even mean?
Offers to connect through agent - but has already reached out directly. ?

Kate Messner@katemessner· May 20

Five things you should know about my upcoming MG novel KEEP THE GHOST LIGHT ON (cover reveal coming tomorrow!) 1. It’s a Broadway ghost story. 2. With angry showgirls. 3. Also first crushes, fancy costumes, and nerdy theater kids. 4. Half of it is written as a musical. 5. Directed by the ghost.

Photo shows a creepy staircase at the New Amsterdam, one of many Broadway theaters rumored to be haunted. A face-shaped wall sconce holds five lightbulbs. (The book KEEP THE GHOST LIGHT ON is set at a fictional NYC theater that's loosely based on the New Amsterdam.)

Kate Messner@katemessner· May 19

As of today, THE TROUBLE WITH HEROES has now landed on 20 (!!!) state book award lists, and I couldn't be more grateful to all the librarians, teachers, families, and readers who have shared this funny-sad novel about hope and healing in the mountains. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Book cover THE TROUBLE WITH HEROES shows a boy with an orange backpack on a mountain summit with a Bernese Mountain Dog. Yellow text reads: 20 STATE BOOK AWARD NOMINATIONS: ALABAMA

ARIZONA

FLORIDA

IDAHO

IOWA

KENTUCKY

MAINE

MARYLAND

MICHIGAN

MINNESOTA

NEW HAMPSHIRE

OKLAHOMA

PENNSYLVANIA

RHODE ISLAND

TENNESSEE

TEXAS BLUEBONNET LIST

TEXAS LONE STAR LIST

UTAH

VERMONT

WYOMING

Kate Messner@katemessner· May 17

Children's book friends! What are your favorite fairy tale retellings & fairy-tale inspired books from BIPOC authors & illustrators? I have a list started but feel like I must be missing a lot of more recent releases.

Book cover MUFARO'S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS by John Steptoe shows a brown-skinned girl holding a hand mirror, against an African landscape.

Kate Messner@katemessner· May 14

NYC friends - hope you'll join my colleagues and me in celebrating another year of LitWorld's amazing work bringing stories to readers all over the world! www.litworld.org/spring?fbcli...

Light green poster reads: LitWorld in the Springtime - with photos of authors Kate Messner, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Tracey Baptiste, and Karina Yan Glaser. Event includes buffet dinner, award winning authors, live music, interactive art installation on Monday, June 1st from 6:30-8:45pm. Visit www.litworld.org/spring for tickets & donations. This event held in loving memory of Sue Meigs.

Kate Messner@katemessner· May 12

So @loreegriffinburns.bsky.social & I just gave a presentation called "The Curiosity Club" for the most curious 4th and 5th graders at Hunter College Campus School. We talked about the subnivean zone, marching caterpillars, finches, urban wildlife, and manatees and gosh, my heart is full.

Authors Kate Messner & Loree Burns standing in front of a presentation screen with librarians at Hunter College Campus School.

Kate Messner@katemessner· May 8

Here's one of the ways I use play to generate book ideas - a three-column brainstorming chart. I shared this in our Teachers Write summer camp a while back. Here's the link: katemessner.com/teachers-wri... (My new picture book AXOLOTL-ELLA grew out of this strategy!)

Book cover AXOLOTL ELLA: A SORT-OF CINDERELLA STORY by Kate Messner & Lian Cho has a blue background with dark blue lettering and a bright pink axolotl in a dancing dress, along with a smaller yellow axolotl prince in a jacket and crown.

Kate Messner@katemessner· May 6

My #1 piece of advice for these aspiring writers? Haunt your local library and indie bookstore and read all the new books. You'll learn how many amazing stories with cool angles and fascinating structures are already out there and see how your ideas might fit into what kids are reading today.

Kate Messner sharing a read-aloud with a group of aspiring writers at Books on Third in Naples, FL with a backdrop of green bookshelves filled with books.

Kate Messner@katemessner· May 6

Recently, I got to lead an intro-to-children's-books workshop for aspiring writers at the amazing new Books on Third indie bookstore in SW Florida. Here are some of the mentor texts I shared with them. (thread)

Author Kate Messner speaking at a writing workshop in a cute independent bookstore with green book-filled shelves and black and white floors.

Kate Messner@katemessner· Apr 22

Teachers & librarians! We have a great teaching & discussion guide for THE WHALE'S TALE & THE OTTER'S SIDE OF THE STORY: A BOOK TO READ FROM FRONT TO BACK AND BACK TO FRONT - you can download it here: cdn-static.supadu.com/harpercollin...

Author Kate Messner & Illustrator Brian Biggs sitting in Politics and Prose bookstore with copies of their book THE WHALE'S TALE AND THE OTTER'S SIDE OF THE STORY, which has a blue and white cover with a humpback whale and a sea otter.

Kate Messner@katemessner· Apr 19

DC area friends! I'll be at Politics & Prose with illustrator @brianbiggsstudio.bsky.social this Monday, April 20th at 10:30am to celebrate our new picture book THE WHALE'S TALE AND THE OTTER'S SIDE OF THE STORY: A BOOK TO READ FROM FRONT TO BACK AND BACK TO FRONT. Please come say hi if you can!

blue and green graphic showing headshots of author Kate Messner & illustrator Brian Biggs along with their new book cover THE WHALE'S TALE AND THE OTTER'S SIDE OF THE STORY: A BOOK TO READ FROM FRONT TO BACK AND BACK TO FRONT, with cover art showing a whale's tail and a surly looking otter. Text on graphic reads: Politics and Prose presents Kate Messner & Brian Biggs Author Event, 4/20 at 10:30am -P&P Connecticut Ave.

Kate Messner@katemessner· Apr 8

Beyond grateful to learn that THE TROUBLE WITH HEROES is the winner of the Indies Choice Award in the MG category for this year! Thank you SO MUCH, indie booksellers!! ❤️❤️❤️ @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social

Blue background with a gold star for Indies Choice Awards and text WINNER OF THE MIDDLE GRADE CATEGORY. Cover for THE TROUBLE WITH HEROES by Kate Messner shows a boy on a mountaintop with a Bernese mountain dog.

Blue background with white text: "Messner's book packs a punch -- full of both humor and sadness as well as sweeping vistas -- as we grieve and laugh along with Finn. Much like the mountains that heavily feature in this book, it's absolutely incredible." - Melissa Fox, Watermark Books & Cafe

Kate Messner@katemessner· Apr 4

Artemis II is now closer to the moon than to Earth. Learn more about the history behind this week's launch when HISTORY SMASHERS: THE SPACE RACE comes out July 21st w/ @randomhousekids.bsky.social! (Cover by @dylanmeconis.bsky.social & int. art by @falynnk.bsky.social) bookshop.org/p/books/hist...

Artemis II's Orion Spacecraft in the foreground, approaching the moon, which appears as a small round circle floating in space.

Cover of HISTORY SMASHERS: THE SPACE RACE by Kate Messner has white title font against a space-blue background and shows a series of astronauts floating in spacesuits, including a monkey and a dog, also in spacesuits. The dog's caption reads: Woof! There's more to this story.

Kate Messner@katemessner· Apr 2

Sometimes the world is just too much but then I open my inbox and find that @falynnk.bsky.social has sent a sketch of a unicorn wearing a kilt and tool belt and that doesn't fix everything, but it sure helps.

Pastel sketches of three unicorns - the one on the left is tall & blue, with an orange kilt and tool belt. The middle one is yellow with a whistle around her neck, and the one on the right is light green with sparkles in her mane and tale. All three are standing on hind legs like people.

Kate Messner@katemessner· Mar 29

Here's where to find me at the Texas Library Association Conference in Houston this weekend!

Bright yellow background with a graphic that reads: KATE MESSNER AT TLA 2026 and signing schedule:

THE TROUBLE WITH HEROES
Sunday 12:30-1:30 - Room 360
(Right after the Bluebonnet speed dating event)
WILDLIFE RESCUE: HOW TO SAVE A TORTOISE
Sunday 3:00-3:30pm - JLG Booth 1315
CAMP MONSTER
Monday 10:00-11:00am - Aisle 2
OVER AND UNDER THE CORAL REEF
Monday 2:00-3:00pm - Aisle 13
HISTORY SMASHERS: ANCIENT EGYPT
Tuesday 10:00-11:00am - Aisle 1

Hope to see lots of friends in Houston this weekend!

Kate Messner@katemessner· Mar 23

Sometimes writing books for kids means that I get to have breakfast with manatees... #research #wildliferescue

A manatee underwater, eating a full head of romaine lettuce with other lettuce floating nearby.

Kate Messner@katemessner· Mar 20

Delighted to share that OVER AND UNDER THE CORAL REEF is a 2026 KIDS FAVORITE! @cbcbooks.bsky.social #KIDSFAVS cbcbooks.org/cbc-book-lis... @chroniclekidsbooks.bsky.social

Book cover OVER AND UNDER THE CORAL REEF by Kate Messner and Christopher Silas Neal shows a bright blue sea with a child and adult snorkeling over a bright coral reef with a sea turtle swimming above it.

Kate Messner@katemessner· Mar 13

Thank you, indie booksellers!! I couldn't be more excited to learn that THE TROUBLE WITH HEROES is shortlisted for the 2025 Indies Choice Book Awards in the Middle Grade Category!

Blue background with a gold star that reads INDIES CHOICE AWARDS. Graphic text reads "Middle Grade Shortlist" and shows five book covers - SCARLET MORNING by ND Stevenson, BLOOD IN THE WATER by Tiffany D. Jackson, ALL THE BLUES IN THE SKY by Renee Watson, THE TROUBLE WITH HEROES by Kate Messner, and DRAGONBORN by Struann Murray.

Kate Messner@katemessner· Mar 10

There are two new kids on the block today! Check out these funny, heartfelt titles in THE KIDS IN MRS. Z'S CLASS from @kylelukoff.bsky.social & @traceybaptiste.bsky.social - both illustrated by Kat Fajardo & published by @littlebrownyr.bsky.social!

Bright yellow background with book cover THE KIDS IN MRS. Z'S CLASS: SEBASTIAN METZGER SOLVES A STICKY SITUATION by Kyle Lukoff & illustrated by Kat Fajardo. Cover art shows a third grade boy in a school library, holding a book with an octopus on the cover and looking anxious.

Bright yellow background with book cover THE KIDS IN MRS. Z'S CLASS: FIA HOSEIN FINDS HER BEAT by Tracey Baptiste illustrated by Kat Fajardo. Cover art shows a third grade girl with brown skin and black braids playing a steel drum as two other students play recorders behind her.

Blue and yellow background with a graphic showing twelve bright but tiny books in THE KIDS IN MRS. Z'S CLASS series - all with third graders on the covers.

Kate Messner@katemessner· Mar 6

SUPER excited for the North Texas Teen Book Festival tomorrow! Will I see YOU there? #NTTBF26 @nttbfest.bsky.social

Pastel graphic background with a photo of author Kate Messner and her graphic novel CAMP MONSTER, illustrated by Falynn Koch, with cover art showing a furry white and blue yeti surrounded by other monsters. Text reads: IRVING PUBLIC LIBRARY'S NORTH TEXAS TEEN BOOK FESTIVAL 2026. MARCH 7, 2026. IRVING CONVENTION CENTER, 500 W. LAS COLINAS BLVD, IRVING, TX.

Kate Messner@katemessner· Mar 3

Some gopher tortoises and I are celebrating a book birthday! WILDLIFE RESCUE: HOW TO SAVE A TORTOISE, illustrated by Jen Bricking, is out today from @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social!