Lauren Redniss Lauren Redniss is an author, an artist, and a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant." Her previous books for adults include Radioactive, a finalist for the National Book Award, and Thunder & Lightning, winner of the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. Her most recent book is Oak Flat, which the New York Times called "astonishing" and "virtuosic." Time Capsule is her first book for children.