Fear of Microphones

The scene: Book Expo America in the sprawling Los Angeles Convention Center

ME: Hi, I'm Heidi Estrin from the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee and The Book of Life podcast. Do you have any new Judaic titles I should know about?

FRIENDLY PUBLISHING PERSON: Oh yes, let me show you this exciting book on our fall list...

ME: Do you mind if I record you for my podcast while you tell me about the book?

FRIENDLY PUBLISHING PERSON: Record ME???? NOW??? Wait, maybe I can get my colleague over here to do it....

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It's remarkable how much fear can be inspired by a tiny little handheld microphone, especially one with cute Mickey Mouse ears. But seriously, I really want to thank the many brave souls who spoke to me about their wonderful new books at BEA, and to reassure them that I will be editing the audio before I post it. Everyone sounded great in the first place, and I'll polish it up so we'll all sound even better, not to worry.

I collected enough audio that I will probably post a multi-part episode. I'm thinking of dividing it into categories: picture books, books for older kids and teens, adult books, and Holocaust books. I'll try to get the first part posted within a week, and more as June progresses.

As thorough as I tried to be, I'm sure I can't have found every Jewish book at BEA. I'd love it if people could post comments to tell me about the books I missed. Just click where it says "comments" at the end of the post. Thanks!