YALLFest


YALLFest, which was co-founded in 2011 by Jonathan Sanchez of Blue Bicycle Books, along with authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, is a two-day festival that is open to the public and sponsored by Blue Bicycle Books, the YA and youth publishing community, the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, and a host of local businesses. Author Melissa de la Cruz joined as Director of Development in 2012; authors Veronica Roth and Brendan Reichs now co-chair the festival. YALLFest has become the largest young adult book festival in the South.
In 2015, Stohl and de la Cruz co-founded a sister festival, YALLWEST, that occurs every spring in Santa Monica, California.

Attending authors

2011

Festival Director: Jonathan Sanchez
Author Track Guests:

  • Kwame Alexander
  • Pseudonymous Bosch
  • Sarah Rees Brennan
  • Heather Brewer
  • Lisa Brown
  • Rosemary Clement-Moore
  • Andrea Cremer
  • Katie Crouch
  • Melissa de la Cruz
  • Kimberly Derting
  • Gayle Forman
  • Donna Freitas
  • Kami Garcia
  • Adele Griffin
  • Michelle Hodkin
  • Ellen Hopkins
  • Caitlin Kittredge
  • David Levithan
  • Isaac Marion
  • Saundra Mitchel
  • Kaleb Nation
  • Diana Peterfreund
  • Beth Revis
  • Marie Ruthoski
  • Carrie Ryan
  • Eliot Schrefer
  • Victoria Schwab
  • Holly Goldberg Sloan
  • Natalie Standiford
  • Margaret Stohl
  • 2012

    Festival Director: Jonathan Sanchez
    YALLFest 2012 Keynote Conversation: Cassandra Clare and Holly Black
    Author Track Guests:

    • Kwame Alexander
    • Jennifer Lyn Barnes
    • Holly Black
    • Pseudonymous Bosch
    • Sarah Rees Brennan
    • Heather Brewer
    • Kiera Cass
    • Cinda Chima
    • Cassandra Clare
    • Andrea Cremer
    • Katie Crouch
    • Gitty Daneshvari
  • Melissa de la Cruz
  • Matt de la Peña
  • Kim Derting
  • Simone Elkeles
  • Elizabeth Eulberg
  • Gayle Forman
  • Kami Garcia
  • Adam Gidwitz
  • David Macinnis Gill
  • Adele Griffin
  • Deborah Harkness
  • Jenny Han
  • Siobhan Vivian
  • Michelle Hodkin
  • Ellen Hopkins
  • Tonya Hurley
  • Michele Jaffe
  • Caitlin Kittredge
  • Alyson Noel
  • David Levithan
  • Stephanie Perkins
  • Diana Peterfreund
  • Kathy Reichs
  • Brendan Reichs
  • Beth Revis
  • Jessica Rothenberg
  • Carrie Ryan
  • Eliot Schrefer
  • Natalie Standiford
  • Trenton Lee Stewart
  • Margaret Stohl
  • Cate Tiernan
  • Robin Wasserman
  • Marjorie Wentworth
  • John Corey Whaley
  • Kathryn Williams
  • 2013

    YALLFest 2013 brought together forty-eight top young adult, middle grade and crossover writers from all over the country.
    Festival Director: Jonathan Sanchez
    Programming Directors: Margaret Stohl, Melissa de la Cruz, Pseudonymous Bosch
    YALLFest 2013 Keynote Conversation: Veronica Roth and Rae Carson
    Author Track Guests:
    #AuthorProminent workSecondary prominent work
    01.Leigh BardugoGrisha trilogy NYT
    02.Pseudonymous BoschThe Secret SeriesWrite this Book NYT
    03.Alexandra BrackenThe Darkest Minds Trilogy
    04.Libba BrayThe Diviners NYT
    05.Heather BrewerThe Slayer ChroniclesSoulbound NYT
    06.Rae CarsonFire and Thorns Trilogy
    07.Cinda ChimaThe Heir Chronicles NYT
    08.Matthew CodySuper
    09.Rachel CohnBETA NYT
    10.Ally CondieMatched Trilogy #1 NYT
    11.Jocelyn DaviesA Beautiful Dark Trilogy
    12.Melissa de la CruzWitches of East EndFrozen NYT
    13.Daniel EhrenhaftAmericapedia
    14.Gayle FormanIf I StayJust One Year NYT
    15.Kami GarciaUnbreakableDangerous Creatures #1 NYT
    16.Adam GidwitzA Tale Dark and Grim Trilogy NYT
    17.David Macinnis GillRising Sun
    18.Lev GrossmanThe Magicians Series NYT
    19.Lisi HarrisonThe Clique SeriesMonster High #1 NYT
    20.Aaron HartzlerRapture Practice
    21.Michelle HodkinMara Dyer Series NYT
    22.Nancy HolderBuffy the Vampire SlayerTeen Wolf NYT
    23.Ellen HopkinsCrank TrilogyImpulse Series NYT
    24.Mike JohnstonFrozen
    25.Bill KonigsbergOpenly Straight
    26.David LevithanTwo Boys Kissing NYT
    27.C. Alexander LondonDog Tags Series
    28.Marie LuThe Legend Series NYT
    29.C.J. LyonsBroken NYT
    30.Tahereh MafiShatter Me Trilogy NYT
    31.Myra McEntireHourglass Series
    32.Lisa McMannWake SeriesCrash NYT
    33.Barnabas Miller7 Souls
    34.Alyson NoelThe Immortal SeriesSoul Seekers Series #1 NYT
    35.Lauren OliverDelirium SeriesPanic NYT
    36.Stephanie PerkinsLola and the Boy Next Door NYT
    37.Aprilynne PikeWings SeriesEarthbound #1 NYT
    38.Brendan ReichsVirals Series NYT
    39.Ransom RiggsMiss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children #1 NYT
    40.Veronica RossiUnder the Never Sky Series NYT
    41.Veronica RothDivergent Series #1 NYT
    42.Rainbow RowellFangirl NYT
    43.Carrie RyanThe Forest of Hands and Teeth Series NYT
    44.Victoria SchwabThe ArchivedVicious
    45.Natalie StandifordThe Boy on the Bridge
    46.Margaret StohlIconsDangerous Creatures #1 NYT
    47.Sean WilliamsTwinmaker
    48.J.E. ThompsonThe Girl From Felony Bay

    2014

    Author Track Guests:
    #AuthorProminent workSecondary prominent work
    01.Kwame AlexanderThe Crossover
    02.Jennifer ArmentroutDon't Look Back
    03.Leigh BardugoThe Grisha Trilogy
    04.Pseudonymous BoschThe Secret Series
    05.Alexandra BrackenThe Darkest Minds Series
    06.Ann BrasharesThe Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
    07.Libba BrayGemma Doyle Trilogy
    08.Coe BoothBronxwoodKinda Like Brothers
    09.Kiera CassThe Selection Trilogy
    10.Ally CondieMatched Trilogy
    11.James DashnerThe Maze Runner seriesThe Mortality Doctrine series
    12.John Parke DavisMap to Everywhere
    13.Melissa de la CruzBlue Bloods SeriesThe Ring and the Crown, and more
    14.Matt de la PeñaMexican WhiteBoyThe Living
    15.Sarah DessenAlong for the RideThe Moon and More
    16.Jim di BartoloIn the Shadows
    17.Susan EePenryn & the End of Days Series
    18.Daniel EhrenhaftThe Last Dog on Earth
    19.Sarah FineGuards of the Shadowlands Series
    20.Becca FitzpatrickHush, Hush seriesBlack Ice
    21.Gayle FormanIf I StayJust One Day
    22.Kami GarciaThe Beautiful Creatures SeriesThe Legion Series
    23.Adam GidwitzA Tale Dark and Grim Series
    24.Ryan GraudinThe Walled City
    25.Adele GriffinThe Unfinished Life of Addison Stone
    26.Nikki GrimesBronx MasqueradeWords with Wings
    27.Lev GrossmanThe Magician's Land
    28.Aaron HartzlerRapture Practice
    29.Michelle HodkinMara Dyer Series
    30.Ellen HopkinsSmokeCrank
    31.Varian JohnsonThe Great Greene Heist
    32.Mike JohnstonFrozen Series
    33.Christina LaurenSublime
    34.David LevithanTwo Boys Kissing
    35.E LockhartThe Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-BanksWe Were Liars
    36.Alexander LondonProxy
    37.Marie LuLegend SeriesThe Young Elites
    38.Sarah J. MaasThrone of Glass Series
    39.DJ MacHaleSylo
    40.Barnabas Miller7 Souls
    41.Lauren MyracleTwelveThe Internet Girls Series
    42.Lauren OliverDelirium SeriesPanic Rooms
    43.Danielle PaigeDorothy Must Die Series
    44.Stephanie PerkinsAnna and the French KissIsla and the Happily Ever After
    45.Brendan ReichsThe Virals Series
    46.Kathy ReichsThe Virals SeriesThe Temperance Brennan Series
    47.Morgan RhodesFalling KingdomsRebel Spring
    48.Veronica RothDivergent Series
    49.Rainbow RowellEleanor & ParkFangirl
    50.Carrie RyanThe Forest of Hands and Teeth seriesThe Road to Everywhere
    51.Kieran ScottPrivate & Privilege seriesOnly Everything, and more
    52.Jen E SmithThe Statistical Probability of Love at First SightThe Geography of You and Me
    53.Natalie StandifordHow to Say Goodbye in RobotSwitched at Birthday
    54.Margaret StohlThe Beautiful Creatures SeriesIcons Series
    55.Laini TaylorDaughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy
    56.J.E. ThompsonThe Girl From Felony Bay
    57.Maya Van WagenenPopular: Vintage Wisdom for the Modern Geek
    58.Scott WesterfeldUgliesLeviathan Series
    59.Rita Williams-GarciaOne Crazy Summer
    60.Sara ZarrStory of a GirlRoomies, and more