Writing for the School Library Market

By Sue Bradford Edwards

Nonfiction writers create many types of work.  I’ve written activities for preschoolers and how-to articles for my fellow writers.  Still other writers create lesson plans, picture book biographies, and encyclopedias.  Each type of nonfiction writing requires a different skill set.  

My current focus is writing for the school library market.  Maybe this is something that would be a good fit for you.

 Diverse Interests

First things first, it is a huge help if you have a wide range of interests. My first book for this market was about the ancient Maya.  I’ve also written about puggles, Ariana Grande, cancel culture, and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  

When my editors contact me with the newest list of subjects, I have an easy time making one or more selections. That’s because I’m interested in so many things. I'm interested in history and anthropology, biological sciences and current events. Textile history fascinates me.  I knit, crochet, weave, and embroider.  I am about to sign up for a programming class. 

My interests and educational background have helped me explain evolution, what a drainage system is, how fracking works, and how a vaccine gives you immunity. If your interests are widespread, this field might be a good match for you.

Keen on Research

You also must love research to take on these types of books.  Periodically, an editor will suggest a resource they want me to use, but I generally find all research materials on my own.  

The types of sources I use vary by topic. When I wrote about The Who, most of my sources were published books. I pulled in books from university libraries throughout my area and also made a trip to Half Price books.  

Researching Food in Space, I combed through a variety of NASA materials. I dug through NASA’s online archives.  I read government reports. I sought out industry interviews with food scientists.

During the COVID pandemic, I wrote a book on the topic. This meant that right up until publication I was using medical sources and statistical data to update the text. If you are someone who loves to look things up, this type of writing might be for you.

Fast Drafting

Can you write over a thousand words a day? From the time I am assigned a book until I have to turn in the full manuscript can be anywhere from six weeks to three months. Often, I only have six weeks. Many of the books are 15,000 words long. This means I can’t wait for my muse to pay me a visit.

After my outline and sample chapter are approved, I get to work on the full draft. At that point, I may only have three weeks to write the full book. When I know where I am going with a chapter, I can usually write 1600 to 1800 words comfortably in one day. I don’t do this every day, but I can do it for about a week. After I revise the manuscript and take it to the right reading level, I hand it off to my editor.  Are you also a fast writer? 

A Willing Team Member

Although you will write on your own, you are also part of a team. Because these books appear in series, I am one of several authors.  

Sometimes I've had amazing ideas for book sections, but I've had to cut those ideas from my finished book.  Why?  Because the idea fit better in someone else’s title in the series.  Sometimes your book will be the one that has to make way. Other times your description of a process will be mined for use in other books in the same series. That’s what happened when I explained the process of evolution.  

Writing for the school library market, you often work with content experts and multiple editors on each book. This means that you must reconcile the comments and concerns of several different people. Finding a solution may be tricky, but I love watching my books take shape and knowing that in less than 18 months many of my books will be in the hands of teachers, librarians, and students throughout the United States.  It’s a great field if you are interested. 

Sue Bradford Edwards is a nonfiction author who lives in the St. Louis area. She has written over 80 books for the school library market. When she called her mother to say she wanted to write for children, she could actually hear her mother shrug over the phone.  “It’s about time you figured it out.” When her family travels, they look for historic sites and natural wonders. Absolutely nothing beats an alpine desert.  

Subscribe to Sue's newsletter here for a free copy of her book, What to do When Your Book Is Banned.

The IT factor in Picture Books

By Joyce P. Uglow

It is well known that nonfiction picture books play a big role in supporting students’ development of scientific literacies and cultivates critical reading skills. NF PBs possess the IT Factor! Case in point, “Nonfiction Picturebook Reading in Early and Elementary Education: A PRISMA-P Systematic Review” in ILA’s December 9, 2025 Reading Research Quarterly, points out the importance of NF PBs. Diana Muela-Bermejo and Rosa Tabernero-Sala stated that children who have limited exposure to NF PB tend to exhibit lower reading comprehension skills. Furthermore, it has been said that nonfiction awakens curiosity, fosters a desire to learn, and inspires a sense of wonder. NCTE’s position statement on the role of NF for K-12 students states nonfiction is a “deeply enriching aesthetic experience.”  

The IT Factor in NF PB awakens curiosity and fosters a desire to learn. 

Just in Case: Saving Seeds in the Svalbard Vault by Megan Clendenan, illustrated by Brittany Cicchese, published by Charlesbridge on October 14, 2025, received the 2026 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award® for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children.

I love the engaging organization, rich language, and intrigue in Just in Case! This book is a wonderful example of how an author’s curiosity about a relatively unknown topic prompted further research. Megan Clendenan heard about the seed vault, went on to discover more, and found the right words, the IT Factor, to awaken curiosity on the topic for kids. Books like this inspire kids and foster a desire to learn more on their own. In addition to the gorgeous illustrations, I noticed how the ingenious fact box headings drew my attention to the not-to-be-missed information. Equally brilliant is the use of the engaging title in a refrain. 

The IT Factor in NF PB inspires a sense of wonder. 

There is real magic in Julie Winterbottom and Susan Reagan’s Magic in a Drop of Water: How Ruth Patrick Taught the World About Water Pollution, published by Rocky Pond Books on March 25, 2025. It earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly! 

Julie’s fabulous first line delivers the IT factor right out of the gate. “When Ruth was five years old, she fell in love with pond scum.” What? Pond scum?! I was hooked immediately, engaged from the first to the last line. In Julie Winterbottom’s words on uGROnews Creative Point of View about Magic in a Drop of Water, she said, “I think it helped that I chose a subject that I felt very passionate about so that I could keep going when the research and writing was challenging.” 

 

The IT factor in NF PBs… not everything makes it into the book.  

As nonfiction writers do, I unearthed a plethora of facts during my research for STUCK! The Story of La Brea Tar Pits, published by Bushel and Peck Books, illustrated by Valerya Milovanova. I decided it best to focus and stick with a predator–prey fray to tell the origin story of La Brea. The handful of those featured extinct species allowed me to include info about the Ice Age ecosystem and lead kids to dig deeper into the topic. I left other tidbits to uncover in book talks, educational resources, and school visits. (BTW… Adults and kids are intrigued and utterly surprised that no dinosaurs got stuck at La Brea.)

 

Here is my 2026 IT Factor challenge for you and me:

• Focus on a first line that hooks the reader.
• Choose surprising research tidbits that spark imagination and inspire readers to ask questions. 
• Plant curiosity.
• Use intriguing text features.
• Follow up with amazing back matter. 
• Let your passion for the topic seep into the narrative.
• Enjoy finding the IT Factor for your next books!

 

 

About the Author: Joyce P. Uglow writes poetry and lyrical picture books about nature, science, and our planet. She is the NSTA / CBC 2026 Outstanding Science Trade Books award-winning author of STUCK! The Story of La Brea Tar Pits (2025 Bushel & Peck Books). Joyce currently serves as the Co-Regional Advisor for SCBWI Wisconsin and a Mighty Kidlit mentor. She loves family gatherings, gardening, and exploring National Parks, the world’s mountains, rocks and water with her husband, Larry. Visit Joyce’s website to learn more.

 

How to Write Picture Books Inspired by Headlines

By Nancy Churnin 

Have you ever considered writing a book inspired by a newspaper article?

My newest book, The Miracle Menorah of Mariupol, which comes out Sept. 1 with illustrations by Marissa Moss, was inspired by an article that moved me with its message of hope in a time of war and despair.

There are challenging aspects to working from contemporary story. The first is checking the veracity of the story – not something you could ever assume and especially not now at a time when AI is increasingly common. The second is making sure the book reads like a picture book and not another version of the article. Finally, are you writing something that will stand the test of time – something a newspaper article does not need to do, but a book does? After all, the article runs for a day. Your book will not come out for a couple of years after it sells, and the hope is that it will continue to be read long beyond that.

 

The Miracle Menorah of Mariupol is not the first time I have drawn stories from headlines. Two other books about contemporary stories that I discovered through articles: Manjhi Moves a Mountain, the story of a man who spent 22 years chiseling a path through a mountain so the people in his poor village could get access to schools, medical help, and work on the other side and Rainbow Allies, the story of a community of kids who found a beautiful way to show love and support to a couple that came home to find their home egged and their pride flag torn down.

 

Here are the steps I took: 

1. Make sure you have the facts. Look for primary and secondary sources. For both The Miracle Menorah of Mariupol and Rainbow Allies, I interviewed people who were there and wrote the story with their support and encouragement. With Manjhi Moves a Mountain, I did extensive research and interviewed a professor at Southern Methodist University who traveled to India frequently with her students and knew the facts and the area well.

    

2. Make sure your book reads like a book. As a longtime journalist, I know how to write a newspaper article quickly. I also know one of the primary rules is to show and not tell and keep a professional emotional distance. In picture books, you also show, don’t tell, but you need to know the thoughts and feelings of your subject and reveal them through the slice of the journey that you are telling. In journalism, your story needs to be relevant to the day it is published. In picture books, you must think in global and eternal terms of what your story means. The Miracle Menorah of Mariupol is about a caretaker of a synagogue destroyed by war who decides to light candles in the community menorah he discovers miraculously intact in the rubble. The lighting of the candles helps unite the hearts of a dispersed community with hope for when they will celebrate together again. 

    

3. Are you writing something that will stand the test of time? To bring the message of The Miracle Menorah of Mariupol home, I alternated the contemporary story with the first Hanukkah when people decided to light a menorah found in the Great Temple of Jerusalem that had been damaged by occupation and war. I decided if people have been telling the Hanukkah story for 2,000 years, maybe The Miracle Menorah of Mariupol might be able to tag along for a while, too.

The Miracle Menorah of Mariupol, illustrated by Marissa Moss, releases Sept. 1 from Creston Books.

About the author: Nancy Churnin is an award-winning author who writes children's books about people (and animals!) who have made a positive difference in the world. Her books have won the National Jewish Book Award, South Asia Book Award, Sydney Taylor Honor and Notables, Grinspoon Jewish Story Award and been picked for Junior Library Guild, Silver Eurekas, National Council for the Social Studies Trade Book Notables, Bank Street College of Education Best Books, A Mighty girl, and multiple state lists, including the Texas 2X2 and California Reads, and have received starred reviews. A former journalist and proud daughter of a retired teacher, Nancy loves visiting schools and encouraging kids to follow the dreams that can make them heroes of their own stories. Find her, along with resources, teachers guides, and projects at www.nancychurnin.com.

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PB, MG, or YA? Finding the Best Format for Your Story

By Lindsay H. Metcalf 

Eunice Newton Foote’s story hooked me immediately. Here was the scientist who in 1856 who found that excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would warm the planet. Then the world forgot about her and credited a man with the discovery. Curiosity would propel me through research and writing. But how best to write Eunice into history? I assumed I was writing a picture book, but nope. This project would evolve into a YA novel-in-verse! (Footeprint: Eunice Newton Foote at the Dawn of Climate Science and Women’s Rights releases February 10 from Charlesbridge.)

 In the beginning, I focused on who Eunice was rather than what I would write. I read countless articles, traced their sources, and scoured those, too. I mined Ancestry.com, Google Patents, historical newspaper archives, museum databases. When I exhausted all I could find about Eunice and her family, I pieced together a comprehensive timeline. 

I had published only picture books, so Eunice’s story would be a picture book biography, right? One problem: My timeline overflowed with juicy information, none of which I wanted to eliminate. I also wanted to center Eunice’s voice. Archives held her letters written decades after any throughline that would make sense in a PB bio.

A longer work for older readers could include all of that, plus explore historical forces and contradictions that shaped Eunice and her family. 

But could I pull it off? 

My first attempt came out as a poem. Aha! I could use metaphor to translate emotion without inventing Eunice’s feelings. Breaks between poems would provide natural transitions, and thematic imagery could fill space without making anything up.

Here's an example. A primary source said Eunice had painted landscapes, but I didn’t know specifics. So I created three poems about Eunice painting that pondered her life in broader brushstrokes (heh). The following poems appear throughout Part Two of Footeprint. 

Painting
With oils,
Eunice deconstructs
shadows, highlights, ombré tones,
ripples, straights, ridges.
Shade by shade,
stroke by stroke,
she translates each landscape
from three dimensions to two
until the likeness looks true
& Eunice swells with relief.

Painting II
Painting with facts,
Eunice reconstructs
each invention, each concept,
to tell a science story.
Question by question,
measurement by measurement,
she eliminates possibilities
until only truth remains.

Painting III

Painting her life,
Eunice brushstrokes her truth
with enough pressure to etch glass
but enough control
to avoid cutting herself
open.

“Painting,” “Painting II,” and “Painting III” © Lindsay H. Metcalf, 2026, from Footeprint (Charlesbridge Teen)

I had my format—a novel-in-verse. I tried to write straight nonfiction, because I wanted researchers to be able to use my work as a springboard for further discovery. I filled gaps in the timeline with poems about historical events, such as the New York legislature’s 1845 vote to allow married women to claim patents.

But as I wrote, my approach shifted. Sometimes I felt Eunice would have interacted with moments in history, but I couldn’t prove it. I bridged those with light fiction, writing, for example, that Eunice learned about the women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls by reading a newspaper. The news article was real, and Eunice attended the event, but I didn’t know whether she read the article. I detailed what I had fictionalized in an author’s note, and a massive bibliography showed what I had not.

Did I know I had written a YA? No—not until I saw the “Charlesbridge Teen” logo in the first-round edits with my publisher. Someone up the chain had declared the target audience as 12 and up. I’m just happy I wrote the story I needed to tell without restricting myself. I hope Eunice would be proud.

She is getting three books this spring: Footeprint, plus two picture book biographies (Foote Was First! by Jen Bryant, illus. Amy June Bates; and Change Is in the Air by Rebecca Donnelly, illus. Mercè López). To me, that’s evidence of the myriad ways to tell a story. No one will write your story like you will!

***

Try these exercises with your manuscript:

1. Write a poem about a scene in your manuscript. Use poetic devices such as metaphor and simile, consonance and assonance. 
2. Rewrite a page of your manuscript from different points of view. Switch from third to first person or even second. Perhaps change third person-omniscient to third person-close perspective
3. Rewrite that page for a different audience. If you have a picture book, try middle-grade or an early reader. 
4. Flesh out the version that begs to be written!

There are a million ways to tell a story, and no one will tell it like you. Eunice is getting three books this spring: Footeprint, plus two picture book biographies (Foote Was First! by Jen Bryant, illus. Amy June Bates; and Change Is in the Air by Rebecca Donnelly, illus. Mercè López). Eunice is such an amazing subject, she deserves a hundred more.

 

Lindsay H. Metcalf writes nonfiction and poetry for children and young adults while balancing her laptop on matching Cavalier King Charles lapdogs. This February, Charlesbridge will release her young adult debut, Footeprint: Eunice Newton Foote at the Dawn of Climate Science and Women’s Rights, a biography-in-verse about a nineteenth-century scientist and suffragist who discovered carbon dioxide’s atmosphere-warming properties. A former journalist, Lindsay lives in rural Kansas, downwind of the neighborhood cows, with her husband and two teen sons who remain unimpressed with Lindsay’s writing awards—not even the ILA Social Justice Literature Award for No Voice Too Small and No World Too Big, or the Green Earth Book Award for No World Too Big. Learn more at lindsayhmetcalf.com or @lindsayhmetcalf on social media.

 

Writing Nonfiction

By Henry Herz

I’ve had the opportunity to write four creative nonfiction picture books that are anthropomorphic “autobiographies”—I Am Smoke, I Am Gravity, I Am Light, and I Am Wind—all illustrated by the amazing Mercè López and published by Tilbury House. 

How did I go down this path? Editors, we're told, are always looking for new approaches. So, I put on my thinking cap. There are some picture books with anthropomorphic characters, but I'd never seen smoke treated as children's book subject, much less a character. And who better to describe smoke than smoke itself? Still, smoke isn't even corporeal. Would editors consider such so unusual approach? Would this stray too far from the trodden path? I rolled the literary dice.

Subverting expectations is a tried and true writing technique. The saying “where there's smoke, there's fire” tells us both are dangerous. But what about the beneficial uses of smoke? Also, since smoke is telling its own story, I had to consider what type of character voice to employ. Smoke is ancient, dark, shifting, mysterious. That inspired me to have smoke speak in a spare, lyrical voice, using alliteration and riddles.

I also wanted the book to have a narrative structure rather than a simple recitation of facts. I considered the carbon dioxide given off by wood smoke. Two oxygen atoms and one carbon atom. Carbon... Inspiration struck like lightning splitting a tree. Plants are the lungs of the Earth. They breathe in carbon dioxide through their stomata. They drink up water through their roots. Sunlight provides energy to split those molecules. The plant forms cellulose from carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, sequestering more and more carbon as they grow. Conversely, burning tree branches releases the stored carbon. Eureka! Smoke has a “cycle” too. 

In I Am Smoke, smoke tells its own story, explaining the various ways in which people have employed it over the ages and across the world. Not only did this add richness to the story, it added marketing hooks: STEM, geography, history, and social science. Authors focus naturally on story, but we must also factor in marketing considerations.

 

 

 

About the Author:  Henry Herz is a children’s literature author, educator, and editor known for blending history, science, and creativity into engaging books for young readers. He has written numerous award-winning nonfiction and fiction titles that make complex ideas accessible and fun, and he frequently collaborates with experts to ensure accuracy and depth. In addition to his writing, Herz is a dynamic school presenter and the editor of acclaimed anthologies that showcase diverse voices in children’s publishing.

Assignment vs. Freelance: Which One Wins?

By Amy Houts

I love writing nonfiction on assignment, but I also love writing freelance. What about you? Have you ever considered writing nonfiction on assignment? That’s when a publisher assigns you a topic. They supply all the specifics about the project including a deadline, contract, and payment amount called a “flat fee” (no royalties, no matter how many copies of the book sell). It’s a fun challenge! 

Of my 100+ books, the majority were written on assignment for educational or Christian publishers. About half are nonfiction. Most recently, I wrote four holiday books for Amicus (a division of The Creative Company) for their “Curious About” series: Presidents Day, Easter, Memorial Day, and Independence Day. 

You might like writing freelance better, or maybe you’d like to do both like I do. Following is a comparison of writing nonfiction on assignment vs. writing nonfiction freelance to help you decide.

Writing Nonfiction on Assignment

The publisher chooses the topic. I’ve found every topic I’ve researched interesting, but I’ve enjoyed some more than others. Publishers often ask your preferences. You can list you enjoy writing about science, social studies, or math in your cover letter or on your application.  

Detailed guidelines: Editors send detailed information: topic, word count, content, grade level, and more. Sometimes it’s pages long with an outline, style guide, etc. I refer to these documents again and again. 

Limited time to research and write: Deadlines are usually short, depending on the grade level and word length. For early grades, I’ve typically had one to four weeks to research and write a book. For older grades, I’ve had as long as three to four months to research and write. Keeping a detailed bibliography is a must. Often editors want primary sources where you talk to experts along with articles from reliable websites as well as books on your subject. Both following the guidelines and having a deadline are stressful. Imposter syndrome can’t last long! You have work to do.

Work with a talented team of editors: I’ve enjoyed working with editors who give me insight, support, and answer my questions. Getting constructive feedback is both helpful and a little daunting. Often one or more revisions are needed or expected. A few editors have become my dear friends.

Payment and publication is guaranteed: You will earn the amount listed in your contract and your book will be published! Often, the terms are 30-60 days after revisions when the final manuscript is submitted. Of course, you need to complete the assignment, which might include not only a manuscript, but discussion questions, a bibliography, sidebars, and a glossary. 

No promotion needed: There’s no need to promote a book when you don’t earn royalties. The publisher does not expect you to be involved in promotion on the same level as a freelance book. They take care of advertising and sales. I post about all my books, both those I’ve written on assignment and those I’ve freelanced, on social media. I’ve purchased author copies and sold books at school visits, but there isn’t a push to promote. It still takes creativity, inspiration, energy, and determination to write a book on assignment. It helps build credits and show you are a professional. As always, it feels great to hold a book you’ve written in your hands. 

 

Writing Nonfiction Freelance 

You choose the topic: You might have a special interest or know what you want to write about. There are many topics from which to choose. You must decide on one and narrow it down. Then you need to research to make sure there aren’t other books on your topic or with your particular angle.    

Create your own guidelines or outline. Know where you are going, what structure you want to use (or try several), and what you want to teach. It helps with nonfiction to have an outline. With fiction, I’m a pantser, writing without a plan or detailed outline, but with nonfiction, I become a plotter. Remember, with nonfiction, you don’t need to write the whole book to start submitting your proposal. You need two completed, polished chapters, a detailed outline, and query email. 


Research as long as you want, to your heart’s content: As a former librarian, I love research! Getting lost in the many ways (primary sources, internet, books, articles, and more) to find out about something is fun, motivating, and satisfying. This can be an advantage or disadvantage. Sometimes I’m enjoying the research so much, I don’t want to stop to actually start writing. Or sometimes I go down the rabbit hole spending way too much time doing off-topic reading.   


Work on your own: You might enjoy working on your own if you have a strong vision for your project. You don’t have a team to tell you if you’re on the right track or anyone to answer your questions. Your critique group can give feedback. Or, if you’re lucky enough to have an editor interested, they might request an R&R, “revise and resubmit.” You will probably just have one chance to revise, not the back and forth communication like you would have with an editorial publishing team.

Payment and publication are not guaranteed: An editor might love your topic, sample chapters, and outline and reward you with a contract. Then you will need to complete your book. Or, an editor might be interested and promise a contract, but they change their mind. (That’s happened to me more than once.) Or, you might spend many hours working, and no one is interested! What do you do then? I was so passionate about a local “ladies band” who participated in a 1913 voting rights parade in Washington, D.C., I decided to self-publish it.  

Promotion: Authors are expected to promote their books in a big way—much more so than when my first picture book was published in the 1990s. Of course, you want your book to sell. It’s not just the royalties, it’s your message, your information, your mission. There’s so much you can do! In-person readings, school visits, speaking engagements, blog tours, webinars, and social media posts. I’ve developed activity packets and sold books at vendor shows. Most of this will happen just before and after your book releases. But it doesn’t end. I’m still promoting my Earth Day book, God’s Earth is Something to Fight For, even though it was released in the fall of 2023.

If you want to try writing on assignment, how do you break in? Submit your resume and cover letter to the educational publishers such as those listed in the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators) resource THE BOOK. Meet editors of educational publishers at conferences. And/or network with other writers to recommend you. Writing Nonfiction on Assignment vs. Writing Freelance? There’s no clear winner or loser. I still submit my freelance work, but also have success writing nonfiction on assignment. It’s the best of both worlds! 

 

Amy Houts is the author of 100+ books for children. She writes for general market, educational, and faith-based publishers. Amy retold 60 fairytales, folktales, and classic stories on assignment for the series, Compass Children’s Classics. Her 10 nonfiction science early readers were published by Highlights. Amy’s faith-based books include bath books, Noah’s Ark and The Creation (Sunbeam/Bushel & Peck Books), God’s Earth is Something to Fight For (Sunbeam/Bushel & Peck Books), and God’s Protection Covers Me (Beaming Books). To find out more, see: https://amyhouts.com and Linktr.ee/amyhouts.  

Putting the Story Back into History

By Marissa Moss

One reason I write historical nonfiction is because I want kids to see how exciting real history is. Textbooks may be boring, but going right to original source material rarely is. When I wrote the diary of a pioneer girl taking the Oregon Trail in 1850, I read stacks of pioneer journals, some published, most not. I felt like I was looking over the writers’ shoulders, fording rivers alongside them. The result, Rachel’s Journal, is meant to give students the same thrill I got, the same sense of being close to an experience that happened in a completely different era.

One way to grab students is to tell them tales they don’t know about, giving them that wonderful sense of discovery.  I love stumbling onto people who should be better known but aren't. Those are the stories I turn into books, the tales of courage and achievement that deserve to be widely known.

   

 

Maggie Gee was that kind of lucky discovery.  I found her in a local newspaper article about WWII veterans.  I didn’t know that women had flown warplanes in WWII and it seemed like an important story for kids (and adults) to know about.  

 

I reached out to Maggie and asked for an interview. That interview and the many conversations that followed became a picture book. Maggie impressed me with her drive, her optimism, her courage. She barely mentioned the discrimination she faced when she talked about her life. As a child growing up in Berkeley, as a Chinese-American she couldn't swim in the public pools. But she could serve her country in wartime. Maggie not only had many stories, she had photo albums, even her WASP training materials, including a guide to aircraft, allied and enemy. She had a treasure trove of source material about the WASP experience, all useful for the story I wrote.
 

I thought of Maggie’s grit, her enthusiasm for taking risks and following her dreams, when I started looking for a Civil War story. I wanted to find a woman who had made similar daring choices. I started by reading widely, about both the North and the South. I learned that more than 400 women had disguised themselves as men and fought as soldiers for one side or the other. Could one of those women’s lives hold the story I wanted?

I plowed through books about nurses, soldiers, spies, but they all lacked some essential characteristic.  Some were there to be with a husband, brother, father, or fiancé. Some were adventurous, but not particularly patriotic or admirable. Very few cared about the issue of slavery.

Sorting through all these women, I found one who seemed promising. The first book I read about her didn’t tell me much, but it gave me enough of a sense that I wanted to learn more. When I saw she’d written her own memoir of her soldiering life, that I could hear in her own voice her motives and intentions, it was like finding a treasure trove. Source material like this is crucial to make history vivid and accurate.

That woman was Sara Emma Edmonds, aka Frank Thompson. She had integrity, bravery, loyalty to the Union. She wrote movingly about the horrors and wrongs of slavery. But there was more. Edmonds was the only woman to successfully petition the government after the war for status as a veteran. She wanted her charge of desertion changed to an honorable discharge, and she wanted a pension for her years of service.  Suffering from malaria she’d caught in the Virginia peninsula campaign early in the war, she needed medical care she couldn’t afford without it.

It took several years and two separate acts of Congress, but Edmonds received the legal recognition she so richly deserved. Men she’d served with testified on her behalf, praising her steadiness under fire, her work as a battlefield nurse, a general’s adjutant, a postmaster, and even a spy. All of this was more original source material.

I use the same kind of material in the middle-grade nonfiction I write. I follow the trail of whatever I'm writing about to get to documents directly from the period. You can read newspapers from the 1700s in the Library of Congress. The National Archive has digitized much material as well. Recently, I wrote a book about a woman who worked as a codebreaker before there was any intelligence agency in the American government. Much of her work had been declassified and I could read it on the NSA's site.

This is the history I like best, a kind of time travel that evokes real people doing amazing things: powerful stories that actually happened.

 

Marissa Moss has written than seventy children's books, from picture books to middle-grade and young adult novels. Best known for the Amelia’s Notebook series, her books are popular with teachers and children alike, using graphic formats to introduce history in an accessible, appealing way. Barbed Wire Baseball won the California Book Award, Gold medal and the California Young Reader Medal. It has also been banned from Texas and Florida schools.

 

In 2013, Moss founded Creston Books. The small press has earned starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Kirkus, and Booklist, as well as awards. Each list balances debut authors and established names, showcasing the best in children's books.