Young nerds of Charleston unite and start planning for this year’s always popular YALLFest, co-founded by Blue Bicycle Books owner Jonathan Sanchez, Margaret Stohl, and Kami Garcia. We do not have the space to list them all (you can find that list here), but suffice it to say that the fifth annual festival, held on Nov. 13 and 14, will feature a ton of your favorite authors.
You can look forward to Leigh Bardugo (of the Grisha trilogy), Alexandra Bracken (of the Darkest Minds series), Libby Bray (The Diviners), Julie Kagawa (Blood of Eden), plus Hollywood cross-over names we all know, like Lemony Snicket (do I even have to say it? A Series of Unfortunate Events), Kody Keplinger (The Duff), Ann Brashares (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants), and Meg Cabot (The Princess Diaries series).
Additionally, the keynote address will be given by #1 New York Times bestseller Richelle Mead (you may know her Vampire Academy series) and R.L. Stine (Goosebumps series), while the closing keynote will be given by Brandon Mull
(Fablehaven series) and Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn series), both #1 New York Times bestsellers.
YALLFest’s mission is to improve literacy and the festival includes an outreach program that invites authors to local schools to talk directly to young readers. Sarah Peck, manager of Blue Bicycle Books says, “[YALLFest] is really awesome. It’s 5,000 kids aging 5th grade to adult that just take over Upper King. So, it’s pretty cool because it turns reading, which is sort of a solitary activity, into a giant party.”
The two-day spectacular will be teeming with events; Friday includes YALLCrawl, free book signings on Upper King at various venues, and the Red Carpet Preview at the Charleston County Public Library, where selected authors will walk the red on their way to a preview event at the Library Teen Lounge.
Saturday will feature both the opening and closing keynote conversations, as well as “The Big Day of Panels & Signings” and the YA Smackdown Featuring Tiger Beat, where your favorite authors duke it out, telling their favorite stories and competing in improv games to win the Golden Pie trophy, presented by Disney. Love Best of Charleston? Help the Charleston City Paper keep Best of Charleston going every year with a donation. Or sign up to become a member of the Charleston City Paper club.