The 2018 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and SCWBI

Looking for an interesting book to read? On April 21-22 the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will be presenting its 23^rd annual event on the University of Southern California campus. Five hundred authors, celebrities, musicians, artists, and even chefs will be featured. Admission to the festival is free.

There will be over 230 booths in which the expected 150,000 book lovers can explore their interested niches. Exhibitors will include Vroman’s Bookstore (Booth 117), Comic Wise (#833), Harper Collins Children’s Books (#714), Author’s Den (#957), and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCWBI), and a lot more.

SCWBI is a non-profit professional organization for writers and illustrators of children and young adult books. Their mission is to support the creation and availability of quality children’s books in every region of the world. It’s the Los Angeles Regional Chapter that is hosting booth #831 at the Festival.

SCBWI’s booth will feature over twenty-five writers based in Southern California and their books. Michael Thal, the author of the award-winning novel, Goodbye Tchaikovsky, will be available to discuss and sign his books on April 21 from 10 AM until 12:50 PM. He is the author of five young adult novels.Thal’s novels include Goodbye Tchaikovsky, The Abduction of Joshua Bloom, The Legend of Koolura, Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback, and the award- winning novel, Koolura and the Mayans.

Goodbye Tchaikovsky is the story of a violin virtuoso plunged into a deaf world, necessitating him to adapt to a new culture and language in order to survive. David Rothman is an overnight success. He performs Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with rave reviews attracting the attention of the Queen of England. His future is laid out for him like a well-lit freeway. Then, on his twelfth birthday, David suffers from an irreparable hearing loss, plunging him into a silent world. How will David communicate with his friends? What about school? Where does his future lie? The novel shows how an adolescent boy copes with deafness.

The Abduction of Joshua Bloom is a YA novel telling the story of a teen abduction by an alien race justifying their act in an attempt to save their people. Joshua finds himself in a world dominated by women, and men are subjugated to their whims. He travels to a dinosaur world, visits a water planet, and a world doomed by a star about to nova.

The Koolura Series is a set of three books that have distinct plots and can easily be read out of order. They include:

The Legend of Koolura tells the story of a sixth grade Armenian girl and how she obtained the cool powers.  She has the ability to dematerialize at will and reappear where she chooses. She can move objects with her mind and can even defy gravity! But will these powers be of any use in stopping a stalker intent on her destruction? The stalker is determined to retrieve Koolura’s unrealized cool powers and hurt any of her friends who get into his way. As the hour approaches for Koolura’s final confrontation with her nemesis, she may finally find vengeance to the man who killed her mother.

Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback brings Koolura to a sleep-away camp outside of Santa Barbara. Koolura has the ability to teleport, levitate, heal, and even fly. But at Camp Saddleback Koolura wakes up drained and powerless. Who or what has stolen her psychic powers? As Koolura searches for the truth about her power loss, she and the Chumash Girls have to deal with pranksters ruining their cabin and destroying their summer. Campers plan revenge but problems escalate as lives are threatened.

Koolura and the Mayans brings Koolura back with her deaf pal Leila, whom she met at Camp Saddleback. The duo is off to Mexico for Koolura’s father’s wedding. When touring a Mayan archeological dig, the girls uncover a mysterious device that hurtles them 2000 years back in time. They soon discover aliens from the planet Aquari living amongst Mayan natives. Are these Aquarians planning to take over Earth? And can Koolura and Leila stop them in time? 

Today bookstores are as rare as phone booths making the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books the perfect place to stock up on books for yourself, your children, and gifts for friends and family. While there, visit booth #831 to meet SCWBI authors. They are your neighbors who have a story to tell.