An estimated 20,000 readers gathered in Charleston, S.C., on November 10 and 11 for YALLFest, the annual two-day festival celebrating literature for teens. Attendees enjoyed keynotes from authors including Cassandra Clare and Zoraida Córdova; panels covering a range of topics about YA literature from romantasy to horror; a book signing crawl; photo opportunities; and more. We’ve rounded up some highlights from the festivities.
Chloe Gong fans gathered in advance of her YALLFest appearance.
(From l.) Opening keynote authors Leigh Bardugo (l.) and Zoraida Córdova.
Random House’s Team Underlined staff inside a snowglobe installation celebrating Snowglobe by Soyoung Park, translated from the Korean by Joungmin Lee Comfort.
(From l.): the Sequels Schmequels panelists Laura Taylor Namey, Namina Forna, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Laura Nowlin, Stephanie Garber, and Adam Silvera shared their experiences expanding their stories across multiple books.
Tracy Deonn gave a presentation to students at Charleston County School of the Arts.
Known for their reimagined Disney tales, Mari Mancusi (All Is Found: A Frozen Anthology) (l.), Ashley Poston (Hawkeye: Bishop Takes King), Alexandra Monir (The Queen’s Council Realm of Wonders), and Jen Calonita (A Twisted Tale Anthology) pose for a photo op.
Attendees gathered at the bookstore tent to browse titles.
(From l.): authors J. Elle, Alex Aster, Melissa de la Cruz, moderator Margaret Stohl, Jason June, Stephanie Garber, and Angela Montoya onstage after their romantasy panel.
(From l.): Asha Ashanti Bromfield, Abdi Nazemian, Rachael Lippincott, and Caleb Roehrig spoke on the We Have Always Been Here panel about queer historical YA.
A Smackdown event hosted by author and festival board member Soman Chainani (c.), with assistance from Jun Sekiya (l.) and Ramon Torres (r.).
Festival co-chairs Margaret Stohl (c.) and Melissa de la Cruz (r.) and board member Raphael Simon (l.) enjoying festival activities.
(From l.): Cassandra Clare, Chloe Gong, and Tracy Deonn during the Closing Spotlight panel.
At the Opening Author and Sponsor Reception: (from l.) authors Adam Silvera, Rebekah Weatherspoon, Jason June, Gretchen McNeil, and Zoraida Córdova.
