You Can't Spell "Tandem" Without T-E-A-M: Recap of a Speech by Author Catherine Thimmesh

It’s always fun to connect with authors in real life. There are several children’s and YA authors living in our hometown, the Twin Cities of Minnesota, and we keep our eyes peeled in case we run ever into one at the grocery store or walking the dog. Even better, this week we had the chance to hear local author Catherine Thimmesh’s keynote speech at the University of Minnesota Book Week event.

Catherine is the winner of the 2007 Sibert Medal for Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon. Her speech discussed the research process behind this fascinating story, as well as the question she is most often asked by readers: “How do you get your ideas?” In the case of Team Moon, the answer was, quite literally, “By staring out the window!” After conducting taped interviews, visiting the NASA archives in Washington, D.C., and poring over lots of source material, Catherine began writing. Her goal for the book was to create a succinct narrative that emphasized the importance of the team as a whole.

Here at Tandem Insights, the team mindset prevails. So we appreciated her opinion when asked what she hopes readers will take from Team Moon: Catherine wants readers to realize the potential in teamwork. She feels that society has moved away from cooperative efforts and toward a “me-centered” culture where success equates to individual triumph. Most people think only of the astronauts when they think of the moon landing. But there really were 400,000 people involved in getting it right. One of them was actually in attendance at this lecture! Toward the end of the Q&A, a woman raised her hand and identified herself as someone who helped arrange housing for the engineers.

There are tons of interesting facts and stories in Catherine Thimmesh’s lively books. Click here for a list of all her titles in the Tandem Library Books online bookstore. And keep up the good teamwork!