In conversation with Deb Caletti, author of True Life in Uncanny Valley

With a few well-placed lies, Eleanor lands a summer job as a nanny to her secret half-brother. What is her motivation?
Eleanor’s father is Hugo Harrison, a charismatic, beloved billionaire and the creator of a hugely popular AI art app, as well as a highly anticipated, top-secret new release. Everyone seems to know him except Eleanor herself. In her house, Hugo is the enemy, and she doesn’t dare even try. But when she gets this chance to experience life with Hugo, his glamorous wife, Aurora, and her little brother . . . she has to do it. Even if it means betraying Team Mom with increasingly catastrophic lies.

In the past, you’ve said that all your books are personal. What connects you to Eleanor’s story?
At its heart, the story is about narcissism and how it plays from the smallest private arena—the family—to the largest, societal ones. We’ve all been increasingly witnessing narcissism’s effects in the wider world, but many of us, me included, have either experienced a narcissistic family dynamic or watched it play out with someone close. Eleanor’s dad’s ego is the story’s showiest, but her golden sister and mom’s exclusionary relationship is what pains her most. Unfortunately, many kids will relate.

The rise of AI is dominating headlines. What inspired you to use this timely topic as a jumping off point for Eleanor’s story?
A large part of narcissism is the inability to see others. Not truly seeing others has been an ugly truth for generations, but lately, there seems to be an ever-growing epidemic of it, and certain uses of AI reflect that. When we don’t acknowledge the original makers of art, we aren’t seeing other. When we steal an artist’s deep and personal creation and use it to train AI, we aren’t seeing other. We’re also not seeing ourselves—how our creativity is part of what makes us most human. In the book, I mention other seemingly outlandish tech, too, that zeroes in on our humanity. But it’s all based in truth either here now or currently being researched.

In True Life in Uncanny Valley, Eleanor faces a question that technology can’t answer: What is your true self, and how do you know when you find her? What answer do you hope readers will take away with them?
Mostly that you may or may not be an artist like Eleanor, but you—with your compassion and empathy, your creativity, vision, and unique light—you hold the pen to your own life story.

Click the image below to download the pdf!

★ “A title easily summed up in a single word: magic.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ “Taut, suspense-heightening sentences combine with deliberate pacing as well as tender observations of earnest efforts and mentorship.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

Anyone who follows you on social media knows you have a passion for owls. What first sparked your interest?
I think the first thing that led to my owl obsession is the fact that they are so difficult to find in the wild. Most owl species are nocturnal, so right off the bat, they are most active at the opposite time that we humans are. But they are also incredibly quiet and incredibly camouflaged. If you were to look for them during the day, you could literally walk past a tree where one is roosting and never know it. They stay very well hidden, and their feathers blend in with the foliage astonishingly well. And if you are deliberately looking for an owl at night—when it’s already difficult for us to see—their flight is nearly silent, so one could fly by and you might never know. They are just so, so hard to find, which makes seeing one all the more special!

Janie starts an owl journal to organize her owl facts and findings. What are some of your favorite owl facts?
Oh wow . . . so many. Their feathers are extremely soft, which is how they manage to be such silent fliers. But their feathers aren’t waterproof like so many other bird feathers are, so if they get caught in the rain, they end up looking like miserable, wet cats! Owls eat their prey whole, even though not all of it is desired or digestible. The parts that they can’t digest (rodent hair, bones, teeth, etc.) fuse together into a “pellet,” which is eventually regurgitated back up. Their large eyes—that allow them to see in the dark—are not round like human eyes, but rather a long bell-shape, and they are fixed into their skulls in one position. Because their eyes cannot move, they have to swivel their head to see anything that is not directly in front of them. This is why an owl can turn its head nearly completely around on its body. And if they want to look up or down, they bob their heads up and down. It’s quite fun to watch. Honestly, I could go on and on with favorite owl facts!

Mr. Koji tells the class that sometimes you have to wait a long time to see an owl, that you need to have patience. How long had you been a birder before you saw your first owl?
I’ve had a casual love for birds of prey ever since I was a kid. I wouldn’t seek them out, but seeing a hawk or vulture in the sky has always stopped me in my tracks. As far as dedicated birding and identification goes, I’m really just a baby birder in the grand scheme of things. I’ve only been a real-deal birder for about five years now. I gave in and bought bird guidebooks and downloaded the birding apps on my phone when I saw my first bald eagle fly overhead on one of my daily forest preserve walks. I just really started to take notice of all the birds around me and I was instantly hooked! Not long after that, I realized I’d never seen an owl in the wild. Like, ever. Most people haven’t, unless by chance or luck, because they are just that well hidden.

So I became obsessed with trying to find one. I started waking up before dawn and walking several times a week to try and find one. I went out at night and walked randomly. I never heard any calls or saw anything. Still, being a baby birder, I didn’t know anything about owl behavior or habitat or anything, so it was all a bit of a shot in the dark. After, like, two or three months of trying to go at it on my own, I started going out with a far more experienced birder friend I had made in that time. He had more knowledge and experience—what I really needed all along. Within about five times out together, I saw my very first owl on a cold, snowy winter night. There was a full moon, and a great horned owl flew up from the ground and perched on a tree right in front of us. It was breathtaking and surreal. I still get goose bumps thinking about that night.

To See an Owl follows Janie’s journey to spot her first owl, but the lessons in the book can be applied to many situations. What message do you hope readers will take from the book?
A few things. I hope readers will find a new respect and curiosity for the natural world—or reinforce or grow these feelings if they already exist. I am so inspired by the world that exists beyond our human life. In many ways it is far purer and more honest than the life we live. Humanity is inspiring, too, of course, but it can also be terribly frustrating and disappointing. It has become necessary and rejuvenating for me to step away from our world and into one that exists alongside ours, that we often are too busy to stop and notice.

Secondly, I hope readers will get a sense of how special, charismatic, and—as I say in the book—magical owls are. I hope that my love, respect, and fascination come across. Owls are almost otherworldly. There are so many living creatures that almost defy reality and logic, and, to me, an owl is one of those creatures.

Lastly, I hope that readers will see the value and ultimate reward of waiting. We are living in a time, now more than ever, where we don’t have to wait for the things we want. Want to read a new book by your favorite author? Download it or order a hard copy and have it the next day. Want to see a new TV show everyone’s talking about? Stream it now. Want to hear the new album by your favorite band? It’s just a click away. There are still things in life that you simply cannot have right away, no matter how badly you want them. It’s important to understand this, and to experience the uncomfortable feeling that is to wait—for sometimes an excruciatingly long time. When what you are waiting—and have worked—so long to see, experience, or have, is finally realized, it is so cherished and loved. And the journey you went on to achieve that thing is all the more rich and enduring.

Click on the interior spreads below to enlarge.