Q&A with J.A. Dauber

 

Photo by Tilly Blair Photography

 

 

J.A. Dauber is the author of the new middle grade novel Press 1 for Invasion. He is a professor of Jewish literature and American Studies at Columbia University, and his other books include American Comics: A History.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Press 1 for Invasion, and how did you create your character Matt?

 

A: It started, as sometimes books do, with just an image: a kid looking through a phone on camera mode and seeing, instead of a regular human being, a goggle-eyed alien monster dressed in that human being’s clothes. I wrote the book to figure out what was going on in that scene.

 

At first, Matt was just an Anykid who wanted a phone: but as the drafting of the book went on, he became more fleshed out. (Which is the kind of expression that at least one of the aliens, who’s interested in turning kids into dinner, might enjoy using….)

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between Matt and Marcela?

 

A: They put the “childhood sweetheart” in “childhood sweethearts,” although they're only sort of learning what that means over the course of the novel.

 

Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: Like I said above, I started with a situation, rather than a plot: I had the alien invasion scenario pretty much from the start, of course, and knew that it wasn’t going to end with the planet being successfully invaded and the human race being factory farmed, but the details were as much of a discovery to me as I hope they’ll be for everyone who reads it! 

 

Q: As someone who writes for adults and for kids, both fiction and nonfiction, do you have a preference?

 

A: I often say that when you’re a kid and you dream of writing books, you’re don’t really have academic monographs in mind!

 

So I’m delighted to be writing the books about spaceships and action sequences and funny moments that I loved reading as a kid; that said, I also really do love writing nonfiction where I get to think through, in serious and substantive ways, the works I’ve grown to appreciate and cherish as an adult. So different pleasures!

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: On the nonfiction side, I’ve mostly finished a public-facing history of Yiddish literature, and am beginning to think about writing a cultural history of the ‘80s. (I’ve just finished teaching a class on it at Columbia, which has been tremendously fun.)

 

On the fiction side, I’m finishing up a fun middle-grade novel about some very interesting travelers in time….and who knows? Maybe Matt and Marcela will have some more adventures! 

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I hope that anyone reading this, if they have a kid in their life who likes fast-paced, funny adventures (or, hey! if they like them themselves) will consider picking up Press 1 for Invasion.

 

Both my 10 and my 12-year-old – who, as their father can attest, are not shy about letting their dad know when, say, they fail to find a joke of his amusing – read the book through in one sitting, and claim that other kids are going to like it a lot. I sure hope they’re right!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb