The Hook Factor: Finding the "No Way, That Can't Be True!" Angle in Any Nonfiction Topic

By Stephanie Bearce

I'll never forget the moment I discovered bat bombs.   

I was deep into research for my Top Secret Files: World War II book, reading through military archives about unusual weapons development. And there it was: a completely serious government project that involved strapping tiny incendiary devices to hibernating Mexican free-tailed bats, loading over a thousand bats into bomb-shaped canisters, dropping them from planes over Japanese cities, and hoping the bats would roost in the wooden buildings before the timers ignited.

My first reaction? "No way. That can't be true."

My second reaction? "This is PERFECT."

That's the moment I'm always hunting for when I write nonfiction. That instant when something is so bizarre, so unexpected, so absolutely wild that it makes you stop and say, "Wait, WHAT?" And then you realize it's 100% true.

Why This Matters More Than Ever

Here's the reality we face as nonfiction authors: we're competing with TikTok, YouTube, video games, and an endless stream of digital content designed to grab kids' attention in seconds. A middle-grade reader scrolling through their feed can watch a 30-second video of someone doing a crazy science experiment, laugh at a meme, and move on to the next thing before they've even finished reading a single page of text.

So how do we compete? How do we get kids to not just pick up our books, but actually want to read them?

We need to think like kids. We need to tap into that child-like sense of wonder that makes them stop mid-scroll and say "Wow! Gross! No way!" That factor—that visceral reaction of surprise, disgust, or disbelief—is what gets middle-grade readers to dive into learning history and science. It's what transforms "I have to read this for school" into "I want to know what happens next."

If we write nonfiction the way we learned it in school—dry facts, chronological timelines, "important" historical figures doing "important" things—we've lost before we've begun. But if we can make a kid's eyes light up in the first thirty seconds, make them lean forward and say "Wait, what? Tell me more!"—then we have a chance. Then we can sneak in all the real learning while they're too hooked to notice.

The Secret Weapon: Context Kids Don't Have

Here's what most adults forget: kids don't have the context we do for historical events. When you say "World War II," most middle-grade readers picture the Allies winning. They've seen the movies. They know how it ends.

What they don't understand is how desperate the Allies were. They don't realize that for a significant chunk of the war, the Nazis were winning. And desperate times led to desperate measures—which led to some of the most bizarre, creative, and yes, twisted inventions in history.

That's where the hook lives. Not in "The Allies developed new weapons technology" (boring), but in "The Allies were so desperate they literally tried to make bombs out of bats, rats, and even muffins" (TELL ME MORE).

Let me give you that muffin example. During WWII, the Office of Strategic Services developed an explosive compound that looked, felt, and could be baked exactly like flour. They called it "Aunt Jemima" after the popular pancake mix. Chinese resistance fighters could smuggle this explosive flour through Japanese checkpoints, and if questioned, they could literally bake muffins from it and eat them to prove it was "just flour."

Now, I won't lie to you—eating explosive flour was ill-advised. One Chinese cook who sampled the first batch almost died. But after they perfected the formula, the muffins were actually edible (though not recommended), and fifteen tons of Aunt Jemima explosive flour was successfully smuggled during the war without the Japanese ever discovering it.

No kid is going to hear "explosive muffins" and not want to know more.

Finding Your "No Way" Moment

So how do you find these hooks in your own research? Here's my process:

1. Research extensively first. You can't find the weird stuff if you only scratch the surface. I read everything—academic journals, firsthand accounts, military archives, old newspapers, obscure websites. The best hooks are usually buried deep in the footnotes.

2. View everything through a kid's eyes. I'm constantly asking myself: "Would a 10-year-old think this is cool?" Not "educational" or "important"—cool. If it doesn't pass the cool test, it won't hook reluctant readers.

3. Look for what contradicts expectations. Kids think they know what things are supposed to be like. Science is in beakers. Weapons look like guns. Communication is for people. When you can show them fish that use farts to communicate (which is real science—herring produce underwater sounds by releasing air bubbles from their swim bladders, and scientists believe it's a form of communication), you've disrupted their expectations. That's when learning happens.

4. Hunt for the truth that's stranger than fiction. I write both fiction (my Raven Gallows mystery series) and nonfiction, and I can tell you—the true stories are often wilder than anything I could make up. When bats accidentally burned down an entire military airfield during testing because armed bats escaped and roosted under a fuel tank? That's not a joke. That actually happened. No novelist would dare write that because it seems too ridiculous.

5. Go beyond the obvious. This is crucial. When I wrote the book about burps and farts, I could have just gone for the gross-out factor and stopped there. But I asked: "What's the science here? What are researchers actually studying?" That's how I found studies about fish communication, medical research on digestive gases, and the serious science behind why we burp and fart. The hook gets kids in the door, but the real science keeps them reading.

The Context is the Key

Here's the thing about hooks: they work best when you provide context. Bat bombs are interesting. Bat bombs in the context of Allied desperation during WWII are fascinating because they tell a bigger story about human ingenuity, desperation, and the weird ways people solve problems when everything is on the line.

That's what transforms a weird fact into a compelling narrative. You're not just sharing trivia—you're giving kids a window into a moment when adults were trying anything, testing everything, and pushing boundaries because the stakes were that high.

Try This With Your Own Research

If you're stuck trying to find the hook in your topic, here's an exercise:

1. List the "expected" version. Write down what most kids already think they know about your topic. (Example: "The Allies used planes and tanks to win WWII.")

2. Find five facts that contradict or expand that assumption. Dig deep. Look in academic databases, military archives, scientific journals, old newspapers—anywhere that's not the first page of a Google search.

3. Ask the "no way" test. Read each fact out loud. Do you have that moment of disbelief? If you're not surprised, kids won't be either.

4. Find the context. Why did this happen? What does it tell us about the people, the time period, or the circumstances? The hook gets kids interested; the context makes them care.

5. Test it on a kid. Seriously. Tell a 10-year-old about your discovery. If their eyes light up and they start asking questions, you've found your hook. If they shrug, keep digging.

The beautiful thing about nonfiction is that the truth really is out there waiting to be discovered. Those "no way, that can't be true" moments exist in every topic—you just have to be willing to dig deep enough to find them. And when you do? That's when you transform "educational" content into something kids actually want to read.

Because once you've told them about the bats, the muffins, and the farting fish, they're hooked. And that's when real learning begins.

Resources to Spark Your "No Way!" Moments

Looking for inspiration to find those twisted, weird, and fascinating hooks in your research? Here are some of my favorite websites and podcasts that celebrate the strange, the unexpected, and the "you've got to be kidding me" moments in history and science:

Websites:

Atlas Obscura (https://www.atlasobscura.com/) – A goldmine of hidden wonders, unusual places, and curious stories from around the world. Perfect for finding the obscure historical details that make kids stop and say "wait, what?"

Mental Floss (https://www.mentalfloss.com/) – Fascinating facts, trivia, and weird history presented in bite-sized, highly readable formats. Their "Amazing Facts" section is addictive.

Damn Interesting (https://www.damninteresting.com/) – Long-form articles about obscure true stories from science, history, and psychology. Every article lives up to the site's name.

Futility Closet (https://www.futilitycloset.com/) – Over 12,000 entertaining curiosities from history, literature, language, art, philosophy, and mathematics. Updated daily with the delightfully bizarre.

Roadside America (https://www.roadsideamerica.com/) – Your guide to weird roadside attractions across the U.S. Great for finding local oddities and unusual historical artifacts hiding in plain sight.

Podcasts:

No Such Thing as a Fish (https://www.nosuchthingasafish.com/) – Weekly podcast from the researchers behind the BBC show QI, where each episode features bizarre and extraordinary facts discovered that week. Over 600 episodes of pure fascinating weirdness.

The Memory Palace (https://thememorypalace.us/) – Short, beautifully produced historical narratives about forgotten moments and overlooked figures from America's past. Perfect for seeing how to make history emotionally resonant.

Happy hunting! These resources have helped me find countless "no way, that can't be true" moments over the years. What are your favorite sources for discovering the weird and wonderful?

Stephanie Bearce is the author of over 40 books for children, including the Top Secret Files series (eight historical books about spies, secret missions, and hidden facts), the Twisted True Tales from Science series, the Gross Science series, and Mary Anning and Paleontology for Kids. She also writes the Raven Gallows middle-grade mystery series. Stephanie specializes in making history and science irresistible by finding the weird, twisted, secret, and unusual stories that make kids stop and say "No way!" Learn more at stephaniebearce.com.

STANDING OUT IN A CROWDED BOOK MARKET

by Suzanne Jacobs Lipshaw

 

In 2012, my family and I visited Yellowstone National Park. Journeying through the park, we were in awe of the spurting geysers, gurgling mud pots, and colorful hot springs. The teacher in me knew my students would be in awe of Yellowstone too.

That school year when my students entered my resource room, they entered a room decorated like Yellowstone National Park. As part of a new teaching strategy, I immersed my students (struggling readers) all year in books, videos, and projects revolving around the park significantly increasing student engagement, motivation, and learning.

 

 

Wanting to continue to spread the wonder of Yellowstone, I decided to showcase my passion in my next picture book. But there were a myriad of picture books about Yellowstone. How was I going to make my manuscript stand out?

I had to find an angle. But was there a slant that hadn’t been used by another author? I brainstormed. Perhaps I could focus on one awesome feature of Yellowstone, instead of the whole park. Nope. I wanted to share it all.

I asked myself questions about what I learned at the park. One stood out. What triggered my desire to share Yellowstone with my students? It was the volcano hidden below Yellowstone—the impetus for the park’s incredible ecosystem.

Could I make the volcano the “main character”? I brainstormed some more. Hmmm, the super volcano is often referred to as a sleeping giant. This angle could work. I love a good metaphor! I searched online hoping no other author had thought of it. No go! A wonderful book was just published taking that slant. Now what?

During my research, I learned that the Yellowstone volcano was different from other volcanoes. I spent some time thinking about this. I could focus on these differences. Nah! That would be too broad.

What if I focused on only one difference? I did some research. There are more than 1,500 active volcanoes on Earth, but there are only 20 supervolcanoes. And wouldn’t you know it, Yellowstone is not only one of the twenty, it is the fourth largest supervolcano in the world!

The word super stuck with me. Super important. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Super powerful. Superhero! What if I keep my metaphor idea but change the sleeping giant to a superhero. I had found my angle! Let the writing begin!

 

TRY THIS

Don’t be afraid to write about a topic that appears overdone. Take a look at the books listed
below and see how these authors have taken a creative slant on a common topic or have found unknown bits of information about a famous person, and use these to inspire your original angle! Good luck and happy writing!

• The Super Volcano: A Hidden Hero Below Yellowstone National Park by Suzanne Jacobs Lipshaw
• Volcano Dreams: A Story of Yellowstone by Janet Fox
• Tad Lincoln’s Restless Wriggle: Pandemonium and Patience in the President’s House by Beth Anderson
• Thomas Jefferson’s Battle for Science: Bias, Truth, and a Mighty Moose by Beth Anderson
• Freaky, Funky Fish: Odd Facts About Fascinating Fish by Debra Kempf Shumaker
• Flamingos are Pretty Funky: A (Not So) Serious Guide by Abi Cushman

(Please note: Parts of this post were first written for another blog but remain the author’s original ideas and words.)

 

About the Author:

Suzanne Jacobs Lipshaw is a children’s book author and former teacher passionate about growing young minds. Her writing credentials include the true-story picture books I Campaigned for Ice Cream: A Boy’s Quest for Ice Cream Trucks, Mighty Mahi, and The Super Volcano: The Hidden Hero Below Yellowstone National Park. Suzanne enjoys speaking about writing, leadership, and how kids can make a difference. When she’s not dreaming up new writing projects, you can find her kayaking on the lake, hiking the trail, practicing at the yoga studio, or comparing paint swatches. To learn more about Suzanne visit her website at http://www.suzannejacobslipshaw.com/.