Q&A with DeAndra Davis

 

Photo by Briah Christia

 

 

DeAndra Davis is the author of the new young adult novel All the Noise at Once. She teaches at Florida Atlantic University.

 

Q: What inspired you to write All the Noise at Once, and how did you create your characters Aiden and Brandon?

 

A: All the Noise at Once was inspired both by my own experiences being black and autistic, that of my son who is also autistic, and then combined that with our family’s love for football since my husband used to play.

 

I was deeply inspired by my own anxieties, especially after seeing the treatment of both black and autistic people by law enforcement over the years. So much of that manifested into the story that exists now. I wanted to present both in a way that was real about those anxieties, but also presented hope. 

 

Aiden and Brandon have always been my main characters, though I flip-flopped a lot with who would be telling the story. I had times where Brandon was the narrator and other times when it was Aiden. I realized the story was truly about them both, but Aiden needed to do most of the growing and so the story ultimately belonged to him in the end.

 

They are an amalgamation of people, as most characters are. Aiden has bits of me and my son. Brandon has bits of me as well. Aiden has bits of my sister. I saw them as my own family and extensions of them.

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between them?

 

A: I think they have a very classic sibling dynamic in which there is this pressure on the oldest to look out for the youngest, take them everywhere, include them in everything, but Brandon doesn’t resent that, he revels in it. He loves his brother.

 

The thing is, because Aiden is autistic, Brandon doesn’t see the ways he amplifies those responsibilities, making them too big and too much of himself. So much of him is wrapped up in responsibility. Meanwhile, Aiden is the benefactor of all of that and is content, at first, to just let those things happen until he realizes how much it infantilizes him.

 

So they have this amazing relationship where they truly care so much for each other and love each other but it’s also beginning to chafe a bit as reality and life seeps into it.

 

They have to grow up and those growing pains are tough but I think they respect each other so much and Brandon, especially, has so much respect for Aiden and doesn’t just see him in one way that they find really great ways to work through things. 

 

Q: The writer Jay Coles said of the book, “Equal parts witty and heartbreaking, All the Noise at Once serves as a window into the Black autistic experience and as a beacon of hope for those our justice system has forgotten and failed.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I think it’s an amazing description and I am still so grateful to Jay for that review. I think where the book will make you cry at times, it will also make you laugh.

 

It places you in someone else’s shoes and while things are hard, it gives you some small outlook and hope that things can be better if we start somewhere, even if all the answers aren’t the ones we wish we could get out of the situation.

 

Q: How was the novel's title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: Actually, one of my friends who read the book picked the title right out of the text. She knew I needed a new title and highlighted it and said, Hey, this would be really good. The line was all the noise, all at once. We shortened it and got here.

 

I think it really signifies the ways in which we, when dealing with intersectional identities, have so much that we are juggling all the time. We are juggling being marginalized in multiple ways and it’s affecting the ways in which we move through the world.

 

The input of that is the noise and it’s something we have to field all at once, constantly. We don’t get it in bits and pieces because our identities cannot separate from each other, they only compound. I think the title truly ended up being perfect.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am currently working on my second young adult novel, which follows a teen girl who travels to Jamaica to find the mother that abandoned her but gets a bit more than she bargained for. She grows up a lot during the trip and learns that sometimes you have to challenge the people you love even if it hurts.

 

It’s a beautiful story and I’m very excited to write something about and immersed in my heritage. 

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: All the Noise at Once is out tomorrow! You can preorder anywhere books are sold, but if you’d like a personalized and signed copy, you can order from an indie here.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb