It was difficult to tell who was more excited about author and poet Peter Johnson’s visit to Dartmouth Middle School: the students or Johnson.

As part of Dartmouth’s “Famous Author Assembly,” Johnson was invited to speak Friday to the students about his writing, his process and his experiences in developing “The Amazing Adventures of John Smith, Jr. AKA Houdini,” which the students read.

Johnson was greeted to not just a lively group of middle schoolers but an auditorium plastered with student-made posters, character sketches and even game boards made in honor of “John Smith Jr.”

The book follows the story of 13-year-old Houdini, who decides to make money by writing his own novel. Houdini chronicles his life as he and his friends start a leaf-raking business, befriend Old Man Jackson and fight back against the neighborhood bully, Angel. Along the way, he writes about tougher topics like his dad losing his job or his brother, Franklin, who is first reported missing in action in Iraq but still seems to be missing even after he’s brought home.

A professor at Providence College, Johnson was feeling burned out when inspiration finally struck. He was enjoying a sabbatical and one evening, the words, “My name is John Smith Jr., and let me tell you. Being named John Smith Jr. sucks. So that’s why people call me Houdini” came to him, Johnson said. And so, his next novel was underway.

Once the seeds of inspiration sprouted, Johnson wrote the first draft for “John Smith Jr.” in six weeks.

“If your teachers tell you the first draft is the most important, listen to them,” Johnson said.

If there was any character the students were most intrigued by, it was not Houdini, but his bully, Angel. Students fixated on Angel’s motives and character development.

Johnson also discussed the real life inspirations behind certain characters, including Angel and Old Man Jackson, the process for developing the final cover, creating “complex” characters instead of just underdeveloped “caricatures” and even the book’s original name –“Houdini Weenie.”

“Because what kid wouldn’t pick up a book called ‘Houdini Weenie?’” Johnson said.

Johnson hadn’t always sought to be a writer. He was a very talented athlete and had even been drafted to play baseball on the Detroit Tigers. However, he found himself moving to California and working in construction for a time before deciding to go back to school and write the next “Great American Novel.”

The talk closed out with a performance by Kate Reynolds, 13, and Isabella Febbroriello, 13. The two played a ukulele-based reimaging of “The Ballad of Mona Lisa” by Panic! At the Disco, reworking the lyrics to the book with lines like “Angel is not an angel / it’s pretty ironic.”

Johnson’s left the following advice to creative-minded students: “Don’t let anybody kill that dream… but make sure you have a day job.”