An excerpt of "The Wrong Wrights" from Smithsonian Books. (Smithsonian Books)
By Jackie Mansky Smithsonian.com
Four elementary school students know there's something terribly awry when they win a trip to visit Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. For starters, the museum's name is all wrong—it's not the National Museum of the Air and Winds, right?
Also, why has everything from Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis to the Wright Flyer, the world's first airplane, been replaced by hot air balloons? It's a mystery that the young sleuths must unravel in The Wrong Wrights. It's the first graphic novel in the new educational adventure series called Secret Smithsonian Adventures, written by Chris Kientz and Steve Hockensmith with illustrations by Lee Nielsen and published by Smithsonian Books.
The mixed up, jumbled up tale brings to the foreground the lesser-known history surrounding the familiar tale of the Wright Brothers, Wilbur and Orville the brothers who tinker and find flight. It highlights their younger sister and biggest supporter, Katharine.
Smithsonian.com spoke with co-author Hockensmith about creating the series, which he describes as a fusion of Doctor Who and Scooby-Doo.
Tell me about the first time you visited a Smithsonian museum?
Oh wow. It would have probably been around 1978. My uncle and his family lived in Maryland, not far from the DC area, and we would go visit them every other summer. One of these summers, we went to National Air and Space Museum. Not to smack talk any other Smithsonian museum, but it was far and away my favorite.
I loved the place for a few different reasons. I had a lot of interest in history, especially military history. Going in and seeing all the planes -- they weren't an image on a TV screen, but right there, up close. In real life. It was just fascinating to me. I was a nerd kid, a big Star Trek fan. It was a very special moment to stand next to the USS Starship Enterprise.
Were you always interested in comic books?
Within me always was the desire to write one. I just never had the right opportunity.
Did you always know you wanted to start the series with the National Air and Space Museum?
I can't recall why, but it was immediately obvious that we would start with the Air and Space Museum. My recollection of it is I went away and came up with three ideas and brought back this, this or this, and The Wrong Wrights would always be number one. I bet a lot of it was that I did have this childhood trip there. I remember it so vividly. There was something to me so inherently exciting about the history of that, and so the opportunity to play with that it just rose to the top.
I loved learning about the pivotal role that the Wright Brothers' sister, Katharine, played in their history.
How did you first learn about her?
It was Chris, I believe, who mentioned her. When I came with The Wrong Wrights, I knew that someone was going to try to mess with the invention of airplanes. He was like, "That's great, there's this unsung sister. We've got to get her in there." I myself was unaware of how important she was. Chris has an amazing encyclopedic knowledge in history, and he knew about Katharine.
Talk about how you came up with the Smithsonian Archive Interface Facilitator, or "Smitty," who helps the students when they time travel. Was the character based on any real-life curators?
We were spitballing what would be the ongoing elements in the series. We liked this idea of always tying into the Smithsonian -- the kids having a go-to link. Smitty is the personification of that. He is the Smithsonian, all its collected knowledge almost literally at their fingertips. But we wanted it not to be just an information dump, we wanted a personality because knowledge is an exciting thing. History is an exciting thing. We're trying to make learning fun.
What influenced you when you created the Secret Smithsonian Adventures' world?
We knew that we're trying to do a graphic novel series for the kids, and we wanted them to interact with history and learn through the Smithsonian, in some way. They go there and time travel. So what are they doing? Why do they go to these places? All of this in a way builds on itself. Certain things influence consciously or subconsciously. Doctor Who was in my mind, what it used to be. I still have a great love in my heart for anything that has a time travel element.
I also think of Scooby-Doo. You can find a million of examples where small kids go off and learn things, Magic Tree House for a younger age group, and I'm sure you can find others. For me, the one set in stone is the Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. gang. A group of meddling kids who save the day.
For a story about the Wright Brothers, the reader never gets to know the real brothers. Was that a conscious decision on your part?
I knew almost instantly that the bad guys would be impersonating the Wright Brothers. If Katharine's brothers were actually there, then they would have to have something to do and have the chance to talk. Before you know it, phew, you've added 15 pages. It kept things simpler.
You have two kids of your own, what do you hope they and other readers take away from this story?
I hope that kids enjoy it, and it sticks with them in terms of little-known details, like Katharine. There are so many people forgotten by history. It's incredibly important for us to look back and recognize and ask why that person got forgotten.
Can you tell me about any future Secret Smithsonian Adventures?
The next one is called Claws and Effect. It's about dinosaurs and somebody who is trying to make sure the dinosaurs don't go extinct, and so havoc ensues. Then, tentatively, Treason by George, where George Washington becomes king.
Filed Under: Education Entertainment Inspiration Smithsonian
Why does Katharine Wright play a prominent role in the new comic book, "The Wrong Wrights"?
elijahn1-war
2/29/2016 - 03:04 p.m.
She knew instantly that The Wright Brothers were being impersonated so she was able to indentify them.
johns1-bur
3/01/2016 - 08:55 a.m.
And she was there sister
kelseyc-bur
What does impersonated mean ?
mckennaa-wal
I thought that was cool
jacksonb2018-
Katharine Wright plays a prominent role because she is the "unsung sister" as the text states. The text also states, "Someone has to mess with the invention of airplanes." This is why she was important.
She is also important becUse she is the sister of the writes
Eric0221-YYCA
The new graphic novel that the illustrator had did might have been able to include the Wright Brother's sister back at during the time when the Wright Brothers had made air travel possible for people to be traveling by. The graphic novel had been able to feature the Wright Brother's sister when they first made the airplane which people would be making the graphic novel to be a mystery graphic novel. The people might have wanted to make the Smithsonian books to be interesting if they had been able to create a graphic novel that will be able to feature the Wright Brother's sister. People might have wanted to get people to be interested on mystery graphic novels which people might have wanted to get other people to be reading a lot of the mystery graphic novels.
Critical Thinking Question: Why does Katharine Wright play a prominent role in the new comic, "The Wrong Wrights"?
Answer: Because the Wright Brother's sister wasn't really featured in books about the Wright Brothers so they wanted her to be featured more as the Wright Brothers.
Katharine Wright plays a prominent role because she is the "unsung sister" as the text states. The text also states, "Someone has to mess with the invention of airplanes." This is why she was important. She knew instantly that The Wright Brothers were being impersonated so she was able to indentify them.
wilsoash3-dil
"That's great, there's this unsung sister. We've got to get her in there." I myself was unaware of how important she was" "I loved learning about the pivotal role that the Wright Brothers' sister, Katharine, played in their history."
kendrah-pla
This article is about a new childrens book that highlights the Wright Brothers' sister, Katherine, and adventures at the Smithsonian museum. I think this is very civiclly engaging because it is promoting learning in children through pictures and adventures. This will help kids become more interested in history, I believe, sparking a chain of new learners and the shaping of future communities.
victorp1-kut
if they won the trip and knew nothing about it they would have just asked what its about but when they get there and see the planes they are amazed.