YALLWEST, the annual west-coast book festival, is here!
Bookstacked writers Addie and Saul Marquez are reporting from Santa Monica to give you a run-down on all the events taking place. With over 100 YA authors, hundreds of readers, and a day’s worth of panels, there’s a lot to cover!
4 p.m. – 8 p.m. – YALLWEST kicked off with preview night at the Santa Monica Library. Fans lined up to meet their favorite authors for photos and book signings. Veronica Roth, Victoria Aveyard, Alexandra Bracken and James Dashner were among the favorites. The festivities also included games, trivia and a photo booth.
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- Alexandra Bracken (‘The Darkest Minds’) signs books for fans.
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- Danielle Paige (‘Dorothy Must Die’) meets fans Friday night at YALLWEST.
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- Fans wait in line to meet Alexandra Bracken.
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- A fan is next in line to meet Veronica Roth.
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- YALLWEST attendees enjoy the Instagram-themed photo booth.
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- James Dashner (‘The Maze Runner’) greets fans.
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- Kami Garcia (‘Beautiful Creatures’) signs books alongside her fellow authors.
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- YALLWEST attendees participate in a game of trivia outside the library.
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- Veronica Roth signs books for fans. Many fans brought along the full Divergent trilogy.
– Saul
9 a.m. – Fans arrived at Santa Monica High School and began lining up for wristbands, author signings, and many free giveaways.
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- Fans get a hold of Advanced Readers Copies, some of the most coveted freebies at YALLWEST. (Saul Marquez, Bookstacked)
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- Attendees wait in line to enter a panel in Barnum Hall.
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- Organizers lay out free samples of Marie Lu’s upcoming novel, ‘Warcross’.
10 a.m. – 1 p.m. – Panels and signings begin! We wait in line to meet the lovely Marie Lu.
Marie Lu signs copies of her novel The Young Elites.
There were many interesting panels for fans to choose from, ranging from topics of YA romance to writing YA books.
Related: Read about the panel Addie attended, I Ship It: Fandoms!
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- James Dashner and Leigh Bardugo together at a panel with fans.
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- Kasie West, Lindsay Cummings, and Traci Chee talk about writing a book series.
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- Lindsay Cummings (‘Murder Complex’) discusses her experience writing a series.
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- Traci Chee moderates a panel on writing.
2 p.m. – Veronica Roth hosts the Alt Facts Alt Futures panel and talks writing dystopian stories with Marie Lu, Renée Ahdieh, Claudia Gray, Marcus Sedgwick, and Neal Shusterman.
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- The Alt Facts Alt Future Panel
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- Marie Lu introduces herself at the Alt Facts Alt Future panel.
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- Veronica Roth moderates a panel on dystopia and YA.
Related: Read about the Alt Facts, Alt Futures panel in detail!
3 p.m. – Daniel José Older moderates Writing the Resistance. Authors Marie Marquardt, Victoria Aveyard, Angie Thomas, Benjamin Alire Saenz, and Sona Charaipotra talk about politics and their activist efforts in writing.
5 p.m. – We attend the evening keynote, The Persisters. Victoria Aveyard, Alexandra Bracken, and Danielle Paige talk about feminism, the importance of great female characters in media, and their experiences writing women in YA.
Related: Read about The Persisters panel in detail!
YALLWEST chairs Victoria Aveyard, Alexandra Bracken and Danielle Paige discuss women and writing.
6 p.m. – The night ends with Smackdown, a hilarious show hosted by Veronica Roth and Alex London. Authors share their terrible early writing and play games like Never Have I Ever and Taboo.
Related: Read about the Smackdown in detail!
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