ABOUT THIS BOOK Te 2016 – 2017 JBC Network Meet the Author book was prepared by Jewish Book Council for exclusive use by JBC Network members. It is intended to assist in the selection of authors and books to feature in book programs hosted by JBC Network member sites for the 2016 – 2017 program year. Te JBC Network is a service provided by the Jewish Book Council, whose mission is to enrich Jewish communities through the literary arts and to encourage and promote the reading, writing, and publishing of books of Jewish interest in the English language. Trough the JBC Network, members become acquainted with writers of newly published books whose works are of specifc interest to JBC Network member organizations. Jewish Book Council does not approve or sanction any of the books or authors herein, but rather provides a platform for their exposure and promotion. Each author in this book (or a representative) has approached Jewish Book Council for the opportunity to introduce their books to sites within the North American Jewish community through the JBC Network. Jewish Book Council will facilitate author visits only upon specifc requests from JBC Network members. An author’s inclusion in this book and/or appearance at the JBC Network Conference Meet the Author event does not guarantee invitations from JBC Network members. Invitation is the sole decision of JBC Network member sites. Te material in this book is organized alphabetically by last name of the author. Te information contained herein has been provided by publishers or authors directly and has been edited but not written by Jewish Book Council. NOTES FOR JBC NETWORK MEMBERS • Authors included in this book are to be contacted through Jewish Book Council only, and not directly or through their publisher. • All authors (attending and non-attending) are available for travel unless otherwise indicated. • Additional information—including interviews, videos, articles, and reviews—are available to JBC Network members on the Jewish Book Council website, www.jewishbookcouncil.org. • All information in this book, particularly regarding author availability, is subject to change. • Authors living outside of North America are responsible for their own travel from their home country to the U.S. or Canada. • Author requests are due to Jewish Book Council by June 6 at 9:00 AM (by email: [email protected] or by fax: 212.532.4952). KEY TO THIS BOOK • Book Format: Books may be available for purchase in hard cover (HC), paperback (pbk), or e-book ([e]). • Co-Author: Each author registered for JBC Network has his or her own page in the Authors on Tour handbook. and online. In the case of a multi-authored book, the co-author is listed only when enrolled as a participating JBC Network authors. • Residence & RT Ground: JBC Network members cover the author’s travel expenses between home and the hosting city. “RT Ground” is the approximate cost of travel between the author’s home and his/her local airport and back. (Not applicable for authors living overseas.) • Notes: “Not Attending” indicates that the author listed is not presenting at the Meet the Author event, but is available for speaking engagements unless otherwise indicated. Michelle Adelman Piece of Mind A Novel Told with warmth and intelligence, Piece of Mind introduces one of the most endearing and heroic characters in contemporary fction. At 27, Lucy knows everything about cofee, comic books, and Gus—the polar bear at the Central Park Zoo—and she possesses a rare gif for drawing. But since she sufered a traumatic brain injury at the age of three, she has had trouble relating to most people. She’s also uncommonly messy, woefully disorganized, and incapable of Adult Ficton: Family & holding down a regular job. When unexpected Parentng, Jewish Identty circumstances force her out of the comfortable W. W. Norton & Company and protective Jewish home where she was raised Feb. 2016 $25.95 HC and into a cramped studio apartment in New York ISBN: 978-0393245707 City with her college-age younger brother, she must adapt to an entirely diferent life—one with Publicist no safety net. Over the course of a challenging Erin Lovet summer, Lucy is forced to discover that she has [email protected] more strengths than she herself knew. 212-790-5500 Residence & RT Ground Oceanside, CA $90 – $180 Availability Unavailable for tour untl late Sept. Website & Twiter www.michelle-adelman.com @michadelman Program Suggestons Michelle Adelman received her Literary Ficton, Local Book MFA in writing from Columbia Store Event, Writers’ Workshop University and her MS and BS in journalism from Northwestern Notes University. She lives in the Bay © Genevieve Moller Photography © Genevieve Moller Area. 8 Elizabeth Baddeley I Dissent Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has spent a lifetime disagreeing: disagreeing with inequality, arguing against unfair treatment, and standing up for what’s right for people everywhere. Tis biographical picture book about RBH tells the Justice’s story through the lens of her many famous dissents, proving that disagreeing does Children’s Nonfcton: not make one disagreeable! Biography, Feminism & Women’s Studies, Politcs & Current Afairs Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers Sept. 2016 $17.99 HC ISBN: 978-1481465595 Publicist Audrey Gibbons audrey.gibbons@ simonandschuster.com 212-698-2852 Residence & RT Ground Kansas City, MO $30 – 60 Availability Teaches Mon. and Wed. Website & Twiter www.ebaddeley.com @BizBeth Program Suggestons Elizabeth Baddeley graduated Children’s Program, Local Book from the School of Visual Arts Store Event, School Visits in New York City with a degree in Illustration as Visual Essay. Notes She is no stranger to biographies Not Atending Touring with Debbie Levy of powerful women and has illustrated two picture books: A Woman in the House (and Senate) and Women Who Broke the Rules: Mary Todd Lincoln. 18 Emily Barton The Book of Esther A Novel In Eastern Europe, August 1942, an isolated nation of Turkic warriors is caught between a belligerent nation to the west that the Khazars call Germania and a city the rest of the world calls Stalingrad. Afer years of Jewish refugees streaming across the border from Europe, Germany launches its siege on Khazaria. Only Esther, the daughter of the nation’s chief policy adviser, sees the ominous implications of Germany’s disregard for Jewish lives. Only she realizes that this isn’t just another Adult Ficton: Fantasy, war but an existential threat. Afer witnessing Kabbalah & Mystcism, the enemy warplanes’ frst foray into sovereign Literary Ficton Khazar territory, Esther knows she must fght for her country. She embarks on a perilous journey Tim Duggan Books across the open steppe, seeking fabled village of June 2016 $27.00 HC [e] Kabbalists who may hold the key to her destiny: ISBN: 978-1101904091 convincing her entire nation to join in the fght Publicist for its very existence against an enemy like none Liz Esman Khazaria has ever faced before. lesman@ penguinrandomhouse.com 212-257-6049 Residence & RT Ground Kingston, NY $100 Availability Emily Barton is the author of Open availibility Brookland and Te Testament Website & Twiter of Yves Gundron, which were www.emilybarton.com both listed as New York Times Notable Books. She has received Program Suggestons grants from the Guggenheim Martin © Greg Book Club, Literary Ficton, Foundation, the National Endowment for the Local Book Store Event Arts, and the Sustainable Arts Foundation. Her essays, short stories, and reviews have appeared Notes in Story, Conjunctions, Te Massachusetts Review, Tablet, and Te New York Times Book Review, among other publications. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and sons. 23 Judy Batalion White Walls A Memoir About Motherhood, Daughterhood, and the Mess in Between Judy Batalion grew up in a house flled with piles of junk and layers of dust, sufocated by old magazines, swivel chairs, and VHS tapes obsessively gathered by her hoarder mother. At the frst chance, she escaped the clutter to create a new identity—made of order, regimen, and clean white walls—until she found herself enmeshed in life’s biggest chaos: motherhood. Adult Memoir: Family & Confronted with the daunting task of raising a Parentng, Health & Medicine, daughter afer her own dysfunctional childhood, Holocaust Judy refected on her upbringing and the lives of her mother and grandmother, both Holocaust NAL/Penguin Jan. 2016 $16.00 pbk survivors. What she discovered astonished her. ISBN: 978-0451473110 Te women in her family were more closely connected than she knew—from her Bubbie Publicist Zelda to her daughter of the same name—and, Lauren Burnstein despite its hardships, it was Judy’s bond with lburnstein@ her mother that slowly healed her old wounds. penguinrandomhouse.com Told with heartbreaking honesty and plenty 212-366-2423 of humor, Judy’s poignant account of stuf and survival explores navigating the messiness Residence & RT Ground of motherhood, how trauma passes through New York City, NY $13 – $52 generations, and the indelible marks that mothers Availability and daughters make on each other’s lives. Open availability Website & Twiter www.judybatalion.com @JudyBatalion Judy Batalion was born in Montreal, studied at Harvard, and Program Suggestons worked as a curator and comedian Book Club, Parents’ Groups, in London before settling in New Writers’ Workshop York City. She was a columnist for © Sharon Edelstein © Sharon Te New York Times’s “Motherlode” Notes and her essays about parenting, relationships, religion, and health have appeared in Vogue, Te Washington Post, Te Jerusalem Post, Salon, Te Forward, Tablet, Cosmopolitan, and others. 24 John Benditt The Boatmaker A Novel A strange, silent man builds a boat and sails away from the little island where he was born. On the next island over and on the mainland of his country, he encounters a more confused and complicated world than he could ever have imagined and discovers who he really is— including the possibility that he might be a Jew.