I am so excited to share this interview with everyone! Dahlia has been an author I've loved for years now and I am so happy that she was able to do this interview with me!
Kayla Reads and Reviews: You’ve written a lot of books before COOL FOR THE SUMMER, was there anything about the writing process that you learned while writing this book?
Dahilia Adler: Honestly, this was one of the easiest drafting experiences I’ve ever had, which I’m surprised to be able to say because it’s my first dual-timeline novel, so it’s not like I didn’t do anything different with it, craft-wise. I find as I go on in publishing that doing new things gets less and less scary, which is a pretty thrilling thing to realize in itself.
KRAR: Was there anything as a Jewish person that you didn’t know about the culture/religion or relearned as an adult while doing research for your main character/novel?
DA: I’m very much a practicing Jew, and Lara is very much not, so there wasn’t really anything to research there, but Jasmine is Syrian, and her mother kind of rediscovered her love for observance after divorcing Jasmine’s non-Jewish father, so I got to write a lovely Shabbat scene at Jasmine’s mother’s house full of some of the absolute best food I don’t know how to cook. One of my good local friends is Syrian, so she helped me with some questions about language etc., but I also have to thank the cookbook Aromas of Aleppo for helping with this one!
KRAR: Why was it important to you to have your main character be Jewish?
DA: I’m going to answer this for That Way Madness Lies, because it’s much more applicable there. “The Merchant of Venice” is a story that’s had a massive effect on anti-Semitism, whether it’s overt or not. The image painted by Shakespeare of Jews via Shylock has lasted for centuries and fed so much fuel to fires, and I wanted to turn that on its head and give the Jewish analog much more power and agency, even if I didn’t make him kinder. Judaism doesn’t have a “turn the other cheek” principle, and honestly, that’s something I’m happy to make clear in my work. We may be a bookish people but we are not weak; we just fight with different tools.
KRAR: Has the current political climate/antisemitism made you hesitant in any way to publish a novel where the main character is Jewish?
DA: Jewish? No. But Jewish in the way I am, sharing more and more of how I observe and my background, yeah, that’s something I’m not anxious to do right now. This is one reason I’ve really liked writing short stories--it’s a nice way to edge in when something is out of your comfort zone. I’ve written two clearly Orthodox main characters in anthologies already (The Radical Element and It’s a Whole Spiel), and while Shai in That Way Madness Lies isn’t particularly linked to any denomination on the page, he certainly could be as well.
I would say Shai was probably my scariest character to write, because I know plenty of readers will see him as a villain. He is, after all, the Shylock analog in a reimagining of “The Merchant of Venice,” and Shylock is clearly painted as the villain in the original. So, you can read him and think I wrote a Jewish monster, if you really want to. He does demand his pound of flesh, and he does have a violent, devious plot behind it. That wasn’t an aspect of the original I wanted to change. My hope is that the current political climate will help readers understand where he’s coming from a lot better, but, well, we don’t all view that climate the same way, shall we say.
KRAR: Do you have a favorite thing about being Jewish?
DA: Child me who was upset about missing Saturday morning cartoons could never have imagined saying “Shabbos,” but taking a day every week where we stop and focus strictly on friends, family, and food is absolutely my favorite thing. It ensures I never go too far off the deep end with work that I can’t return at least once a week, that I have a weekly priority check. That’s such a big deal as an adult and I know if there weren’t something external putting that in place for me, I would absolutely never do it.
KRAR: Do you have a favorite Jewish holiday?
DA: Sukkot! I’m not a huge outdoors person, but there’s just something about eating with family in a little “hut” in the yard with shiny decorations and lights at that perfect point of autumn that just gets me. I also have very fond memories of sukkah hopping as a kid, and by “kid” I mean my friends and I continued to do it in high school and even college.
KRAR: Do you have any tips for Jewish writers who want to write about Jewish characters?
DA: I know this sounds a little brutal, but honestly this applies to any authors writing their own experiences: beware when writing anything personal to you, including your customs and traditions, that having them reviewed badly is going to sting in a very different way from your average bad review. It’s hard to shake the feeling that commentary like that is about you and not the book, and you don’t have to be correct to be crushed by it. I am positive others will disagree with me but I don’t advise putting your whole self into your debut, ever.
KRAR: Growing up, was there ever a book that made you feel “seen” for your Jewish identity?
DA: No, I don’t think I read a Modern Orthodox main character until Playing With Matches by Suri Rosen, which was maybe five or six years ago? But I love that since then, I’ve gotten to see myself in It’s a Whole Spiel (of course in my own story, but also in Goldy Moldavsky’s), The Orchard by David Hopen, which is an adult contemporary that mashes up the story of Pardes with The Secret History, and even in the upcoming historical YA thriller The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros, despite it being set in 1893..
KRAR: If your characters had instagram accounts, what would they be posting? Inspirational quotes? Cute baby animal photos? Mood boards? Photos of their friends? Or something else?
DA: Most of the characters in the book are active Instagram users in the book, so I can answer that pretty easily! Lara is all about photos of her friends, though she would absolutely start posting pictures of her latte art once she got the hang of it. Jasmine is a photographer, so she has artsier, moodier shots. Shannon posts whatever makes her look the most glamorous--mostly selfies and pics of gorgeous places and clothes. And Kiki does ironic hand-lettered inspirational quotes, and probably some Gothic graphics to advertise her podcast.
KRAR: Is there anything you want people to know about your book before they start reading?
DA: It’s not going to be for everyone, and it’s okay if it’s not for you! It is very much about a love triangle, and I know those are anathema to a very vocal portion of YA readers. But for those who really need the bi rep, I hope they find it. (Also, take a close look at the cover--major shoutout to designer Kerri Resnick for outfitting Jasmine with a Jewish star necklace!)
KRAR: Thank you SO much for answering these questions! I am so excited for your novel!
DA: Thank you!!