What would you do if you started taking pictures with your phone and it showed the people in your photos as aliens? In Press 1 For Invasion by J.A. Dauber, ten-year-old Matt is about to find out.
Matt is your ordinary ten-year-old kid. He loves comic books, he’s kind to the lunch ladies, and he desperately wants his own cellphone, but his parents won’t let him have one. When he finds a random phone lying on the ground, he picks it up, excited to finally have a phone of his own. But the only feature that seems to work is the camera, and when he uses it to take a picture of the school crossing guard, she appears as a monster in the photo – but not just any monster. An alien – and it seems like he’s the only one who can see it. It turns out, she’s not the only alien around, and the humans are in danger!
A kid who just wanted a cell phone ends up being responsible for saving the world from an alien invasion in this hilarious, action-packed new middle grade novel that’s perfect for fans of Sal and Gabi Break the Universe and Gordon Korman.
Ten-year-old Matt really wants a phone, but his parents won’t let him have one. When he finds one just lying on the sidewalk, he naturally picks it up and claims it for himself. But when Matt uses his new phone to take pictures, they show the crossing guard in front of his school as a monster. But that can’t be right…can it?
Matt soon learns that: a) his lunch lady is also a monster (actually, an alien); b) an invasion of Earth is due to take place within the next few days; and c) the lunch lady is having cold feet (well, tentacles) about the whole thing and wants his help. Matt and his friend Marcela join forces with her to save the planet.
Battles in their school cafeteria and high above the Earth’s atmosphere place them in very close encounters with alien pets and the business end of a gigantic oven. As the danger mounts, Matt and Marcela must ask themselves what they’re willing to risk to save their friends, their family, and their world.
Press 1 For Invasion
AUTHOR: J.A. Dauber
PUBLISHER: Aladdin
DATE: Sept 9, 2025
As Matt learns more about the aliens and their intentions from the lunch lady who’s having second thoughts about the big plan, he’s quickly sucked into a thrilling race to save the planet alongside his new friend Marcela in this hilariously imaginative, action-packed race to prevent an alien invasion before everyone becomes cafeteria food.
Whether you believe in aliens or think the whole idea is a little out there, this read is the perfect adventure to escape the realities of homework, chores, and responsibilities. (Plus, it checks quite a few of our YAYOMG! Reading Challenge boxes!)
To write a story with a looming alien invasion, J.A. Dauber had to dig up a lot of details on UFOs, aliens, and conspiracies while researching – and he’s here sharing some of the facts that inspired Press 1 For Invasion with our readers!
Author J.A. Dauber Shares 5 Out of This World Facts About Press 1 For Invasion:
Two-thirds of us believe there are aliens out there….
Press 1 For Invasion is about a kid who finds a phone and, in the process, discovers an alien plan to invade Earth.
Is there any chance that could happen? Seems pretty unlikely…. after all, there’s no concrete evidence that extraterrestrial life exists at all. But, according to a poll by the highly respected Pew Research Center, about two-thirds of Americans think that intelligent alien life is out there.
…and younger people believe it a little more than that.
The younger you are, according to Pew, the more likely you are to believe: over three-quarters of Americans ages 18-29 believe that there’s intelligent life on other planets. Pew didn’t seem to poll kids, but if you asked Max, who looked through the phone and saw a goggle-eyed alien monster where his crossing guard used to be, he’d say that the odds were closer to 100 percent!
The American government tried to get people to believe in UFOs!
Max and his friend Marcela consider going to someone to try to help fight the invasion, but they’re convinced no one would believe them. In real life, it seems like the government might not have believed them – but maybe it would have tried to convince them they were on to something!
According to the Wall Street Journal, some people at the Pentagon shared stories that UFOs were real – stories they didn’t believe – to try to distract people from secret defense programs they were working on. It’s hard, with UFO stories, to know what’s real and what isn’t, so let’s call this one half a fact!
The speed of light makes alien invasions hard.
If aliens are out there, why haven’t they invaded yet – or at least come and said hello? (This is assuming that they haven’t, and some UFO believers might disagree…) One answer was suggested by a famous physicist, Enrico Fermi, and it’s become known as the Fermi Paradox. Basically, the math doesn’t work: the universe is enormous, and if – as we learn from physics – you can’t travel faster than the speed of light, then the odds are that any intelligent life out there is located somewhere too far away for them to reach us.
The alien society in Press 1 For Invasion – a species known as the Hive – has an interesting approach to conquering worlds that takes this into account; but it also means that if Marcela and Matt manage to save the day, then the odds are that the Earth is safe for a long time! Will they pull it off?
Alien life is, well, probably alien.
Usually, when we think of life in outer space, we think of aliens like the ones from Press 1 – they may look different (tentacles and googly-goggly eyes), they may act different (hive minds, thinking humans taste delicious), but they still have a lot in common with us. That’s because – thankfully, if they’re alien invaders – they’re more fictional characters than they are fact.
The chances are good that if there is extraterrestrial life we find out there, it’s probably going to be pretty simple, scientifically speaking. Something like bacteria. Which feels a lot less dangerous; but is also a lot less fun…not like the crew you’ll get to meet in Press 1 For Invasion, which I very much hope you enjoy!
🌎WORLD-SAVERS: Go beyond the pages of more reads starring world-saving kids with these FUN FACTS for London Calling, the latest entry in James Ponti’s City Spies series!
