Author Information
Kate Messner's Latest Book

Newest Release

  • Bibliography:
    46 Books (4 Series)
  • First Book:
    November 2007
  • Latest Book:
    June 2024
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Full Series List in Order

Fergus and Zeke

1 - Fergus and Zeke (Jun-2017)
2 - Fergus and Zeke at the Science Fair (Sep-2018)
3 - Fergus and Zeke and the Field Day Challenge (Apr-2020)
4 - Fergus and Zeke and the 100th Day of School (Dec-2021)
5 - Fergus and Zeke for President (May-2023)
6 - Fergus and Zeke and the Great Farm Field Trip (May-2024)

The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class

1 - Emma McKenna, Full Out (Jun-2024)

Marty McGuire

1 - Marty McGuire (May-2011)
2 - Marty McGuire Digs Worms! (Apr-2012)
3 - Marty McGuire Has Too Many Pets! (Feb-2014)

Ranger in Time

1 - Rescue on the Oregon Trail (Jan-2015)
2 - Danger in Ancient Rome (Jul-2015)
3 - Long Road to Freedom (Jan-2016)
4 - Race to the South Pole (Jul-2016)
5 - Journey Through Ash and Smoke (Feb-2017)
6 - Escape from the Great Earthquake (Jul-2017)
7 - D-Day: Battle on the Beach (Feb-2018)
8 - Hurricane Katrina Rescue (Jul-2018)
9 - Disaster on the Titanic (Jan-2019)
10 - Night of Soldiers and Spies (Jul-2019)
11 - Escape From The Twin Towers (Feb-2020)
12 - Attack on Pearl Harbor (Jul-2020)

Book List in Order: 46 titles



  • October 1776…Twelve-year-old Abigail Smith disguises herself as a boy, steals a leaky rowboat, and sets out to join the American Fleet on Lake Champlain. She's desperate to find her uncle, her only living relative and her only hope for a real home....



  • His tribe calls him Silent One. He hasn't spoken since his uncle died fighting the Iroquois. But in the winter of 1609, a new language echoes through the north woods. Samuel de Champlain and his Frenchmen speak of friendship and promise to help the I...



  • Gianna Z. has less than one week to collect twenty-five leaves for a science project, or else she might lose her spot at cross-country sectionals. Finishing her project will be enough of a hurdle, but with a grandmother who keeps losing her teeth, a ...



  • For Claire Boucher, life is all about skating on the frozen cow pond and working at her family's maple farm. But when a professional skating coach offers Claire a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to train with the elite skaters in Lake Placid, she's to...



  • Marty McGuire would rather spend recess catching frogs in the pond than playing dress-up with the other girls in third grade. So when her teacher casts Marty as the princess in the class play, Marty's absolutely, positively sure that there's been a h...



  • Sea monster Ernest is starting his first day of school. But starting school is a big job! Fitting in when you're a sea monster is tough enough, and there's so much to learn and do -- reading, singing, playing hide-and-seek with the fishermen, lunchti...



  • Over the snow, the world is hushed and white. But under the snow exists a secret kingdom of squirrels and snow hares, bears and bullfrogs, and many other animals that live through the winter safe and warm, awake and busy, under the snow. Discover the...



  • In the not-too-distant future, huge tornadoes and monster storms have become a part of everyday life. Sent to spend the summer in the heart of storm country with her meteorological engineer father, Jaden Meggs is surprised at the strides her father's...



  • A funny, accessible chapter-book series about an irrepressible third grader. Marty McGuire's third-grade class has a special assignment: Save the Earth! Even more exciting, the best project wins a special award. Marty's pretty sure her classmates'...






  • ANNA, JOSE AND HENRY have never met, but they have more in common than they realize. Snowed in together at a chaotic Washington, DC, airport, they encounter a mysterious tattooed man, a flamboyant politician, and a rambunctious poodle named for an an...



  • A fast-paced mystery from the author of CAPTURE THE FLAG! José, Anna, and Henry are junior members of the secret Silver Jaguar Society, sworn to protect the world's most important artifacts. When they discover that the society's treasured Jaguar ...



  • Being kind is a big job, but nothing's too big for a sea monster. Not even taking on the new fish in school, who's great...except when he's pushing people around. This funny, charming twist on dealing with a bully will reassure and delight the smalle...



  • Meet Quentin, a middle school football star from Chicago... Sarah, an Upstate New York girls' hockey team stand-out... Ben, a horse lover from the Pacific Northwest... And Cat, an artistic bird watcher from California. The four have nothing ...



  • Marty McGuire really has her hands full this time -- with a lazy boa, a hyper hamster, and a potty-mouthed parrot! Is her pet sitting business about to go OUT of business? After visiting a sanctuary for retired lab chimpanzees, Marty wants to foll...



  • When the world's greatest masterpieces are stolen, it's up to three kids to track down the culprits Henry, Anna, and Jose head from Boston to Paris for their most dangerous mission yet: to solve the mystery of an international art heist! Shortly ...



  • Kirby "Zig" Zigonski lives for the world of simple circuits, light bulbs, buzzers, and motors. Electronics are, after all, much more predictable than most people--especially his father, who he hasn't seen in over a year. When his dad's latest visit i...



  • Meet Ranger! He's a time-traveling golden retriever who has a nose for trouble ... and always saves the day! Ranger has been trained as a search-and-rescue dog, but can't officially pass the test because he's always getting distracted by squirrels...



  • What if your pencil had all the answers? Would you ace every test? Would you know what your teachers were thinking? When Ava Anderson finds a scratched up pencil she doodles like she would with any other pencil. But when she writes a question in the ...



  • In this exuberant and lyrical follow-up to the award-winning Over and Under the Snow , discover the wonders that lie hidden between stalks, under the shade of leaves ... and down in the dirt. Explore the hidden world and many lives of a garden throug...






  • Step One: Find a story. (A good one.) Step Two: Find a reading buddy. (Someone nice.) Step Three: Find a reading spot. (Couches are cozy.) Now: Begin. Accomplished storytellers Kate Messner and Mark Siegel chronicle the process of becoming a re...



  • Ranger, the time-traveling golden retriever, is back for the second book in Kate Messner's new chapter book series. This time, he's off to save the day in ancient Rome! Ranger is a golden retriever who has been trained as a search-and-rescue dog. ...



  • Deep in the forest, in the warm-wet green, 1 almendro tree grows, stretching its branches toward the sun. Who makes their homes here? 2 great green macaws, 4 keel-billed toucans, 8 howler monkeys, 16 fruit bats, 32 fer-de-lance vipers, 64 ago...



  • Ranger is a time-traveling golden retriever with search-and-rescue training. In this adventure, he goes to a Maryland plantation during the days of American slavery, where he meets a young girl named Sarah. When she learns that the owner has plans to...



  • When Charlie Brennan goes ice fishing on her town's frozen lake, she's hoping the fish she reels in will help pay for her dream: a fancy Irish dancing dress for her upcoming competition. But when Charlie's first catch of the day happens to be a talki...



  • Ranger, the time-traveling golden retriever with search-and-rescue training, joins an early twentieth-century expedition journeying from New Zealand to Antarctica. He befriends Jack Nin, the stowaway turned cabin boy of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's ...



  • Ranger is a time-traveling golden retriever with search-and-rescue training. In this adventure, he goes to Viking age Iceland, which proves to be tough terrain for Ranger to navigate. Usually it's Ranger's job to save the day before he can return to ...



  • Lines of bikes are miles long, shining, half a million strong. Rumbling, grumbling, engines roar. Peace signs. High fives. Spirits soar. Every Memorial Day in Washington, DC, more than a million veterans and their supporters gather for the Roll...



  • Meet Fergus and Zeke -- a lovable classroom mouse and his streetwise buddy -- in a brand-new series perfect for early readers. Fergus loves being the class pet in Miss Maxwell’s classroom. He does everything the students do, until the teache...



  • Ranger travels to San Francisco and meets Lily Chen. She was sent from China to America to work as a young servant, but she dreams of studying to be a doctor. When the Great Earthquake hits, Ranger arrives in time to rescue Lily from falling beams in...






  • In this adventure, Ranger heads to Normandy on the morning of the D-Day invasion and finds himself in the middle of one of the fiercest battles of World War II. Ranger meets Leo, a Jewish boy who is hiding with a local farmer, and Walt, a young Afric...



  • Nora Tucker is looking forward to summer vacation in Wolf Creek -- two months of swimming, popsicles, and brushing up on her journalism skills for the school paper. But when two inmates break out of the town's maximum security prison, everything chan...



  • Ranger, the time-traveling golden retriever with search-and-rescue training, arrives in New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina approaches and residents start to evacuate the city. Ranger meets Clare Porter, who is searching for her grandmother. Once Ranger...



  • Charming classroom pets invert expectations with a clever science project that puts a student through her paces. Fergus and Zeke love being the class pets in Miss Maxwell’s classroom, and they do everything the students do -- listening at stor...



  • Everyone says the Titanic is unsinkable, and Patrick Murphy believes this most of all. He grew up near the shipyard where the magnificent ship was built and officially started working there when he turned thirteen. He's even been chosen to be part of...



  • Ranger's next mission finds him in the middle of the Revolutionary War. There he meets Isaac Pope, a fisherman turned soldier for the Continental Army. When General George Washington is in need of a spy to cross into enemy territory, Isaac is cho...



  • From acclaimed author Kate Messner comes the powerful story of a young girl with the courage to make her voice heard, set against the backdrop of a summertime mystery. When Mia moves to Vermont the summer after seventh grade, she's recovering ...



  • Ranger, the time-traveling golden retriever with search-and-rescue training, travels to New York City on the morning of the 9/11 attacks. COURAGE IN THE FACE OF DANGER! Ranger has never needed his search-and-rescue training more than when he ar...



  • Classroom pets Fergus and Zeke can’t wait for Field Day! But all the events are the wrong size -- what can these two little mice do?

    Fergus and Zeke love being the class pets in Miss Maxwell’s classroom. From science experiments to art p...



  • I Survived meets The Puppy Place in this thrilling adventure novel as Ranger -- a time-traveling golden retriever -- races to the rescue on the day of the Pearl Harbor attack.Ranger travels back to 1941 Hawaii, where World War II is on everyone's min...






  • For any child having trouble getting to sleep, the most lovable animal in the rain forest is here to help. One night at bedtime, Sloth wasn’t sleepy. “What if I worry when I try to fall asleep?” Sloth said.“Ah … worries,” Mama said. ...



  • In their fourth adventure, classroom mice Fergus and Zeke—after a few false starts—jump into a creative project to help the kids mark the one hundredth day of school. Fergus and Zeke love being the class pets in Miss Maxwell’s class...



  • Myths! Lies! Secrets! Uncover the hidden truth about the Underground Railroad and Black Americans' struggle for freedom. Perfect for fans of I Survived! and Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales.Before the Civil War, there was a crack team of abolitionists w...



  • Can classroom mice Fergus and Zeke work together to finish their project on American presidents—even when Zeke gets bossy?It’s Presidents’ Day, and all the students in Miss Maxwell’s classroom are choosing their special projec...



  • The Scariest Kitten in the World is a hilarious picture book by Kate Messner and illustrated by MacKenzie Haley in the vein of The Monster at the End of This Book about a not-so-scary kitten and a not-too-terrifying haunted house.WARNING! This is a V...



  • Will the two classroom mice make it back to the bus on time, or will they be stuck on the farm forever? A funny adventure tailor-made for farm-loving kids.Fergus and Zeke love being the class pets in Miss Maxwell’s class, and they always want t...



  • Emma McKenna can’t wait for third grade at the brand-new Curiosity Academy. She’ll have a cool teacher who wears high-tops and science earrings. She’ll meet interesting classmates from all over Peppermint Falls. Best of all, she’ll get a fres...


Award-Winning Books by Kate Messner

The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z.
2010 E.B. White Read Aloud Award -- Older Reader
Over and Under the Snow
2012 Golden Kite -- Picture Book Text
Rolling Thunder
2019 Beehive Award -- Poetry
Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt
2015 Giverny Award -- Science Picture Book


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Kate Messner has published 46 books.

The next book by Kate Messner, Emma McKenna, Full Out, will be published in June 2024.

The first book by Kate Messner, Spitfire, was published in November 2007.

Yes. Kate Messner has 4 series.