Kidsmomo

Earlier this week, Nancy and I spent some time in a place where we couldn’t see the sun, we had to fight crowds to go where we wanted, and the food was terrible… And we did it voluntarily! And we’ll do it again next year!

Why? Because it was BookExpo America (BEA), a huge convention for people who work with books — or just love talking about books ALL. THE. TIME. Like us!

I wish I could have spent more time at BEA (like, my entire life), but I did try to make the most of my limited time there. That included meeting authors, getting a sneak peek at an upcoming series, running into a favorite character, and hearing about the hottest books for Fall ’12!

Check it all out in the pics below:

The art of origami met the awesome-sauce of Star Wars at this presentation. Origami Yoda author Tom Angleberger and Star Wars Origami creator Chris Alexander discussed their books and then led an interactive folding session with the audience.

For his demonstration, Tom Angleberger recruited Ian, one of his SuperFolders.

Afterwards, Tom, Ian, and Chris — I mean, Storm Trooper, Yoda, and Darth Vader posed for the paparazzi (aka me and other crazed fans.)

You never know who you’ll run into at BEA — like a giant Olivia wandering the halls… and undoubtedly causing mischief!

Remember the Infinity Ring series I posted about a few weeks ago? Well, James Dashner (author of the first book) presented a sneak peek and answered questions, alongside his editor and the guy who’s creating the immersive game experience. (Yes, I do work for the company behind Infinity Ring, but I’m not part of the team working on it. Boo hoo.)

Speaking of upcoming books, I attended a presentation where editors from various publishing companies talked about their hottest new books for the fall. Get ready for:

Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin

Sort of a sequel to the award-winning book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, this tale follows another epic journey through a foreign land. This time it’s a runaway boy named Rendi who has the adventure, discovering he may play an important role in the mysteries of his adopted town.

The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann

The author describes this book, set in an alternate version of Victorian England, as “gothic steampunk fairy fantasy” — and that’s enough to hook me! Btw, the author is an 18-year-old, which is also pretty darn cool!

Malcolm at Midnight by W.H. Beck

If you thought there were mysterious things happening at Hogwarts, then you should check out the school in this book! A secret organization of classroom pets act as the eyes and ears of the McKenna School, protecting the students without their knowledge.

Tales from Lovecraft Middle School #1: Professor Gargoyle by Charles Gilman

You think your school is tough? Try going to school in a building that’s been built from parts of a haunted house! ‘Nuff said.

Mira’s Diary: Lost in Paris by Marissa Moss

At first, this sounded like a pretty straightforward story of a girl who goes to France to search for her missing mother. BUT THEN I learned that Mira “time slips” back to 1880s Paris, where she meets artists like Degas — and discovers that her mom has also traveled into the past!

Whew! That’s a lot of AWESOME hitting bookshelves in the fall! It’s a good thing we’ve got the whole summer to prepare ourselves!

And I have a whole year to recover from BEA! Although, to be honest, I’d go back again tomorrow if I could. Alas, the convention is over now. But an obsessed book-lover can dream, right?

— Karen

Karen’s biggest regret about BEA was not eating at the frozen yogurt stand. Oh, well… Next year!

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