By Jessica Wasmund<br><a href="mailto:jessica.wasmund@gnnewspaper.com">E-mail Jessica</a>
Next year marks the 400th anniversary of explorer Samuel de Champlain’s journey from Quebec to Lake Champlain. The story of his journey and the encounters he faced sailing in the early 1600s was a topic Medina native Kate Messner felt especially drawn to.
Messner’s second novel, “Champlain and the Silent One,” was released last month and is geared for kids in the middle grades. The book follows the story of the explorer’s travels, as seen through the eyes of a fictional guide, an Innu boy, who is at the same time struggling with his own people’s violence toward neighboring Native tribes.
The book contains short excerpts from Champlain’s actual journals, in addition to the fictional narrative from the boy called “Silent One.” Not only does the book follow Champlain’s travels, but it also explores the cultural differences between the French and Native Americans.
Messner’s first novel, “Spitfire,” won the Adirondack Literary Award for Children’s Literature and is used in the curriculum for several Northern New York schools. The author grew up in Medina and graduated in 1991 from Syracuse University.
Following graduation, she worked as a television journalist in the area before relocating to WPTZ-TV in Plattsburgh. After earning her master’s degree in teaching from Plattsburgh State University, Messner took a job teaching English Language Arts at Stafford Middle School.
Currently, she lives on Lake Champlain with her husband, Tom, and their two children. When not writing, Messner enjoys taking part of the outdoors by running, traveling, hiking and kayaking. Messner spoke to the Journal-Register from her home last week about her new book. You can contact her through her at www.katemessner.com or at her blog, kmessner.livejournal.com.
QUESTION: How do you feel having finished your second book?
ANSWER: I’m thrilled to have a second historical novel for kids out with North Country Books, and actually, I just finished revisions on a third book. This next one will be published by Walker Books for Young Readers, a national publisher that’s affiliated with Bloomsbury, and it will be released in fall of 2009.
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Q: What inspired you to write another?
A: Well, I love researching local history. We have such a rich heritage here in New York state. So much of our nation’s history happened right here, and I think kids ought to take pride in that and have opportunities to learn about it in an interesting way. As a teacher, I find that many kids have difficulty reading social studies textbooks, which can be quite dry, so historical fiction is a terrific bridge to that history content.
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Q: Why did you choose to write about Champlain’s journey?
A: Next year, 2009, is a huge year here in New York — the 400th anniversary of the voyages of both Samuel de Champlain and Henry Hudson. I live on the western shore of Lake Champlain, so Champlain and the group of Native Americans who led him would have paddled right by this location in 1609. I can’t help looking out over the water and wondering what that must have been like.
The meeting of cultures also intrigued me. Champlain himself didn’t speak Native languages, so he relied on gestures and interpreters to communicate with the Native Americans. I found that intriguing and spent lots of time wondering and later researching what the two groups must have thought of one another. That meeting of cultures is a central theme in “Champlain and the Silent One.”
So is the idea of having the courage and strength to speak for peace in a world that is entrenched in violence. My main character in “Champlain and the Silent One” is a young boy who is a member of the Innu Tribe (or the Montagnais, as the French called them). His tribe and others nearby were entrenched in cyclical violence with the Iroquois to the south — seasonal raids on villages that had been going on since long before my main character was born. It was a habit — something that was seemingly never questioned.
When I was researching this book, I spent a lot of time thinking about the patterns of violence that existed in Silent One’s society and those that exist in our own, and that helped to shape the story for me. That idea of speaking for peace, even when it requires courage, is one that I hope young readers will take from this book. Our world desperately needs strong voices right now.
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Q: Is history something that has always interested you?
A: I’ve always been interested in history. Growing up in Medina, I used to run and bike on the canal towpath, and I’d always imagine the mules walking that path during the heyday of the Erie Canal. When I moved to Northern New York and started teaching here, I really enjoyed learning about this area’s history, too.
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Q: What made you change your career from journalism to teaching?
A: I worked in broadcast journalism for seven years, during and after college, reporting and producing news at NBC affiliates in Syracuse and Burlington/Plattsburgh. I loved that profession while I was doing it, but there were a few reasons I chose to leave it. I wanted to have a career that I could balance successfully while raising a family, and TV journalism is pretty intense in terms of work hours — both the number of hours you work and the flexibility that’s required.
I was also feeling like I wanted something more out of work. I covered the crime and court beat, so I ended up sharing a lot of people’s very worst days. When I was out covering stories, I always found myself admiring the people I met whose jobs involved working with kids, really making a difference in young people’s lives, and that’s when I started thinking about going back to school to teach English.
I had so many fantastic teachers coming through the Medina schools, and I knew what a difference those great teachers can make in the lives of kids. I also come from a family of educators, so it seemed like a natural fit. This will be my 13th year in the classroom, and I’ve loved every minute of it.
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Q: How do your students feel having a published author as their teacher?
A: Well, most of the time, I’m just Mrs. Messner, but they do get excited when I have a new book coming out. My students often attend my signings and other events in the community, and I love that.
I think it lends a credibility to my teaching of Language Arts in a way, too, because I have so many real-life examples to share with my students. I bring my writing life into the classroom to provide models for my kids all the time. When we talk about revision, for example, I’ll talk about the strategies I use and show the kids my marked up manuscripts from my editors. They always get a kick out of the fact that my first drafts are disasters, too, and I think it really emphasizes the concept that writing is a process that takes time if you’re going to do it well. In this age of standardized testing, we forget that sometimes.
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Q: What were the easiest and most difficult aspects of writing the books?
A: The most difficult aspect of writing this new book was getting the voice right. When I knew I wanted to write about the early contact between Samuel de Champlain and the Native Americans of that region, I had to wait for a narrative voice to come to me — someone to tell the story. That took a long time, and then when a narrator showed up in my mind, he wasn’t talking to the other characters, and I had to figure out why he refused to speak. (You’ll read about that in the book!)
I was also concerned about making sure I had the historical and cultural details right, particularly because I was writing in a voice outside my own culture of origin. I’m not Native American, and to me, writing in that voice required an even greater level of respect and responsibility to detail. Joseph Bruchac, an amazing Native American author who lives and writes in New York state, reviewed the manuscript, and when he praised it, I was finally able to take a deep breath and relax.
The easiest part? I’m not sure there is an easy part — but there’s sometimes the joy of sitting at the computer on a day when the words are flowing and you feel like you’re just watching a movie and writing down what happens and recording the dialogue that you hear. It’s like magic — and it’s one of the things that makes writing addictive for me.
Being involved with both of these books with my mom, Gail Smith Schirmer, has also been a great joy. She painted the cover art for “Spitfire” and “Champlain and the Silent One,” and it’s been wonderful getting to talk with her about the creative process. Her work is shown in a beautiful gallery in Canandaigua now, the Pat Rini Rohrer Gallery, and you can see some of her paintings online on her blog (http://gailschirmer.livejournal.com).
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Q: What kind of reaction have you been receiving?
A: The reaction has been terrific, I think in part because people who live in New York and Vermont are thrilled to have these rich historical stories shared, and there have been some amazing moments for me this past year.
“Spitfire” won the 2007 Adirondack Literary Award for Children’s Literature, and I was able to attend the awards ceremony at the Blue Mountain Center, an incredible turn-of-the-century Adirondack lodge on a crystal clear lake in the mountains.
I’ve heard from many teachers and librarians sharing the book with their students. My favorite accolades, though, are the ones that come right from kids. Fan mail from young readers has a special place in my memory box and a special place in my heart.
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Q: What do your future publications look like?
A: It’s been a busy year since “Spitfire” was released. Last winter, I signed with a literary agent who now represents my work and helps me find the right editors for my books. She’s been fantastic, and she’s sold my next four books to national publishers.
I have a contemporary middle-grade novel coming out next fall with Walker Books for Young Readers. It’s a funny story about a Vermont girl, her quirky family, and the school leaf collection project that’s ruining her life. I’ve also been working on a chapter book series for younger readers, and this spring, my agent sold that series to Scholastic Press. The first book, “Marty McGuire, Frog Princess,” will be released in Summer 2010.
And I have a picture book called “Over and Under the Snow” that will be published by Chronicle Books. It’s about a child who goes cross-country skiing with her father and discovers the secret world of animals who live under the snow. We’re not sure on the release date yet, since Chronicle is working to find an illustrator now.
Contact editor Jessica Wasmund at 798-1400, ext. 8225
