2021 Top Picks 📖 AND Special Guest Shannon Messenger 📚
LISTEN HERE
Season 2: Episode 47 Description
It's a Ten News Kid Takeover! 📆 The New Year is almost here, so we're letting our Ten'ers take over the show to countdown to some of our favorite things from 2021. 🏆 Today's episode is all about books! Listen in as Ten'er Nicola shares our Ten News top picks for the best books of the year! 🎤 Listen in as two very special Ten News correspondents sat down with the one of our favorite authors, the EXTRA special, best-selling author, Shannon Messenger. 📚 And test your speed reading knowledge in today's Trivia on the Ten. ✅
Sources:
Change Sings by Amanda Gorman: 9780593203224 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor: 9780525554899 | Brightly Shop (readbrightly.com)
Starfish by Lisa Fipps: 9781984814500 | Brightly Shop (readbrightly.com)
‘Siberian unicorn' may have walked with early humans | Science | AAAS
World's Fastest Reader Shares His Tips, Gives Back Through Education | KOKH (okcfox.com)
Harry Potter and the final chapter: how do the books and films compare? | News | theguardian.com
Links
📧 Do you have something to tell us? Email us at: hello@thetennews.com
📝 Sign up for The Ten News-letter!
📸 Join us on Instagram
TRANSCRIPT:
Nicola 0:03
Calling all Ten'ers. This is Ten News Kid Takeover. The new year is almost here, so Bethany turned the show over to the kids to countdown some of our favorite things from 2021. Today, we're sharing our pitch to the best books of the year. I'm Nicola. It's Tuesday, December 21st. And this is the Ten News.
Various Voices 0:26
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Nicola 0:33
Have you read any Keep of the Lost Cities books, or maybe you're into the Sky Fall Trilogy, they both make the list of the Ten News top picks for great books. And they're both written by Best Selling Author, Shannon Messenger, who sat down with two special Ten News correspondents to talk about the Super Series.
Tracy Kaplan 0:54
Hi, Shannon, it's so great to have you with us here today on the Ten News, we are big fans, I will say that we are even super fans, and we're really excited to talk to you.
Shannon Messenger 1:04
Well, I'm so excited to be here. This is so much fun, especially since we don't get to go out in person as much. It's so nice to get to meet with readers and fans. And you know, have a nice morning together.
Tracy Kaplan 1:15
Wonderful. And I'm joined today by my daughter, Naomi Kaplan, who's going to help me out with some of our questions and questions that we were sent in from our Ten'ers, we have a good audience that that loves your work. And I think where we want to start off is hearing from you. How did you come up with the world for Keeper of the Lost Cities? What inspired you to create this epic adventure?
Shannon Messenger 1:40
You know, I mean, it really came from all different places, it was not one of those instances of just you know, I sort of woke up and when I knew this entire story in this entire world it kind of happened very gradually, I knew that I wanted to write about elves. And I had from you know, starting a short story that was actually with Fitzes character.
Naomi Kaplan 2:02
Oh right, I knew that, that was your short story.
Shannon Messenger 2:05
Yeah, I had created Fitz for a different book that I was working on and created the elves just very loosely for a different book that I was working on. And I got stuck. And so I was kind of just trying to, you know, unstuck that story by writing from one of the side characters pov's, and out came Sophie into that story. I don't really know why she just sort of popped in somehow, I decided that that story was going to be about Fitz, meeting a girl and realizing that she was like him, and she was an elf and him having to tell her that and in proof that maybe short stories aren't always my best form. You know, the dramatic ending of that story was just him basically saying, hey, so you're an elf, and her being like, cool.
Nia 2:51
Like, a short story ended when she found out that she was an elf, and then yeah.
Shannon Messenger 2:58
Not the greatest ending, I mean, I know I'm known for my cliffhangers. But I feel like that's an even worse cliffhanger than what I do in the series. It wasn't satisfying at all and it got me to realize that that's what the story was, I just kept thinking what is going to happen to this girl now? Now that she knows she's an elf? What does she have to leave? Does she have to go live in the Lost Cities? And why was she hidden away? And that's when I realized there's a story there. And I need to kind of figure those questions out.
Tracy Kaplan 3:27
So, can you tell us how you put your characters together?
Shannon Messenger 3:32
You know that is the one part of my writing process that is kind of a mystery even to me. Which is because it's the question I get asked most often because my readers always want to know, how did you come up with these characters? And they, they kind of formed themselves? They really do. My brain has a very vivid imagination. And so I tend to start to see the character kind of fully formed. The one question that I always ask a character before I start writing them is, What is this character hiding from me? Because I feel like we all have secrets. And once I know that character's secrets, I kind of get them, I kind of own them in a way. And it doesn't always mean bad secrets. I mean, the secrets can be a crush, or they can be, you know, a secret dream that they want to have that they haven't shared. Or it can be things that they're afraid of, or things that they're embarrassed by, or anything like that. Usually, it's a mix. But I feel like once I know those things that really tell me everything that I need to know about the character and the rest is just a kind of discovery. As I write, I try to really think of them as real people. And I try to really, when I'm writing the scenes, sit down and think okay, so given what I know about this character, and given what I know about the situation that they're in, what would they do? It makes my life as an author a lot harder because sometimes the answer to that question is like, well, but that doesn't go along with what I need them to do. So, what am I going to do now? You know, but it means that I have to follow some curveballs. But I think that ends up making the story feel more authentic because I really am kind of letting the characters run the show. And I know that my mom was always like, you know, they're not real, right? And I'm like, I know, but I have to treat them like they're real in order to write them in a way that makes them feel real on the page. And so, yes, they're not real, but they're also real at the same time.
Tracy Kaplan 5:29
We are going to jump to some of the Ten'ers. Questions from our Ten'ers.
Hazel 5:34
This is a question from Hazel.
Shannon Messenger 5:36
Hi, Hazel.
Hazel 5:37
How did you get the idea for the characters' names?
Shannon Messenger 5:41
I, for a person who only recently had a child, own an abundance of baby name books. That was one thing that is kind of a character-building exercise for me, I do like the names to have a meaning that says something to me about the characters some it's very on the nose like Keef means handsome. So you know that that name is very spot on. Some are a little bit more, you know, an impression of a character or like Sophie, it means wisdom. And I feel like that's something that Sophie brings to the Lost Cities that she has this very unique worldview because she was raised with humans always feeling like an outsider, but still believed that she was one of them.
Nia 6:24
This question is from Nia, how did you write Tam so perfectly?
Shannon Messenger 6:29
Oh, well, thank you. Um, you know, again, it just really comes down to putting thought into what I know about him, you know, and I knew a lot about his backstory, you know, everything all the conflict with his parents all of his time with Lynn on their own, their time and Auxilium. You know, what it's like to be a shade in a world that kind of values light above everything else, and your ability controls darkness, you know, just really kind of putting thought into all of those things. And, you know, he kind of came together as this slightly surly, but also very funny and, you know, super emo kind of guy who speaks his mind. And, you know, but it's also kind of quiet. And you know, he's, he's a study in contrasts.
Tracy Kaplan 7:14
He's a very cool character. And then Nia had a follow-up question about his sister.
Nia 7:19
Oh, right. Does Lynn ever get a significant partner?
Shannon Messenger 7:23
Well, sadly, I'm not allowed to give spoilers, I would get in very big trouble. So, Ten’ers I can't answer that question without getting myself in a tremendous amount of trouble. So all I can say is I guess we'll find out as the story unfolds, I will also say, I never plan relationship stuff, I anything, even the Sophie stuff, I let that unfold by asking myself what the characters would do, because I feel like I control the plot, as far as like, what the villains are going to do, how many times they're almost going to die. All of that. That's all me throwing stuff at them, but then how they feel about it. That's on the characters. And so something like a relationship. That's all to do with feelings. And so again, that's all something that I just kind of let unfold.
Tracy Kaplan 8:13
So, this came in from quite a few Ten'ers. So, looking for an update on what you can share for the next book?
Shannon Messenger 8:23
Ah, okay, so book nine, because of the whole, you know, I had a baby, just that. Book nine has been a little delayed, I actually found out I was pregnant, the day I finished Unlocked. Wow, yeah, I took a test and found out Oh, man, I realized, I remember being like, it's fine, I've got nine months, I'll totally be able to write those entire nine months. So, that's coming up in November. And we should be able to start sharing things like title and cover and things like that a little bit earlier than we normally do. I think usually those things drop around like April or May. So stay tuned to my social media for anything else on that front. But it does have a title. And I actually have seen the cover, and it's amazing and everyone is going to go nuts. There's lots of excitement ahead. And I can also say that book nine is not the end, it has been announced that there will be a book 10, And book 10 is going to be the end. So right now book 10 is slated to come out the following November. So November of 2023. Hopefully, I'm able to stick to that deadline schedule. We'll just kind of see how cooperative my child is. So yeah, stay tuned on that.
Tracy Kaplan 9:39
All right. Well, this was great. Shannon, it was so wonderful to have you here today. And we look forward to news about book nine.
Nicola 9:49
Wow. She's so cool. And there's even more to the interview. You can listen to all of it in this Saturday's Ten News Gets Extra. Up next, it's time for the Ten News top picks of 2021. In drumroll, please... Books. Our favorite picture book written by a superstar poet is "Change Sings". A child's anthem by Amanda Gorman. You might remember the author from her amazing reading at the Presidential Inauguration.
Sound Bit 10:25
It was always there if only we're brave enough to see it.
Nicola 10:29
And, this picture book is just as inspiring. Our favorite graphic novel featuring 21 baby frogs learning the importance of working together is Cat Kid Comic Club number two Perspectives by Dave Pilkey. The creator of Dog Man and Captain Underpants is back with more jokes than ever. Yes. Our favorite graphic novel set in 1885 logging camp is Shing Yin Khor's, the Legend of Auntie Po, this long comic book tells the story of May a Chinese American kid who works in a logging camp where she hears stories about Paul Bunyan and changes them into stories about a kick-butt Chinese woman called on Auntie Po. Our favorite chapter book that reminds us to love ourselves, just as we are is Starfish by Lisa Phipps. It's about Ellie, a 12-year-old girl who was bullied about her weight, even by her own family. Are you kidding me? When she's in her pool, she can float her cares away. This book is written in a really cool way. It's a bunch of poems, but each one is a new part of the same story. That's incredible. And finally, our pick for the most powerful book of the year is the 1619 Project: Born Underwater. This illustrated book by Nikole Hannah-Jones, and Renee Watson and illustrated by Nikkolas Smith tells the story of black resistance in the shadow of slavery. Wow. This book celebrates the spirit of people who planted dreams and hope, willing themselves to keep living. Did you know that early humans may have hung out with unicorns? No way. They were big and hairy, not made of rainbows and glitter. But they did have one very big horn on their hands. Okay, the Siberian unicorn, which was more like a furry rhinoceros went extinct about 29,000 years ago. Today, you can help save their modern Rhino cousins from going extinct too. Ask a grown up to help you check out the World's Wildlife Funds adopting a unicorn program which, since we can't prove unicorns exist, actually protects the rhinos. You can find the link in the show notes. Cool beans, man. It's time for your...
Various Voices 12:52
What, what, what's the big idea?
Nicola 12:56
Trivia question of the day. Do you ever wish that you could read faster? The Guinness world record for the fastest reader goes to Howard Speedy Burg. But, how many pages can you read in a minute? Is it a) 30, b) 80 or c) 120? Did you guess it? The answer is B. Howard Berg can read 80 pages per minute. At that speed, you could finish all the Harry Potter books in 43 minutes. Turn to page 394. Time is up, but before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to the Ten News. Look out for our new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and it's distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News creative teams read as fast as they can and includes Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Adam Barnard, Tessa Flannery, and Nathalie Alonso. Naomi Kaplan contributed to this episode. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle. And our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Nicola, in for Bethany Van Delft. And thanks for listening to Ten News. Bye friends!
