For the tenth anniversary of the Yallwest book festival, over 50 authors in a plethora of genres signed books for excited fans and took part in panels discussing their latest works. The festival was an extension of the Yallfest event that began in Charleston, South Carolina in 2011, founded by Margaret Stohl of Caster Chronicles book series fame. Stohl, who lives in Santa Monica, brought Yallwest to the city in 2014 alongside friend Melissa de la Cruz, known for novels such as the Disney’s Descendants franchise.
De la Cruz, who has been writing for 25 years now, enjoys the festival every year as a chance to cultivate the young adult novel community.
"It’s [for] kids who love books and kids who find themselves in books, and it’s almost like a place where you find the other kids just like you," she said. "I think that’s what has made it so popular and why it’s sustained, because it’s kind of built a community of like-minded teen readers."
All genres and book forms of young adult interest were represented at the 2024 Yallwest, including historical fiction, romance, fantasy and graphic novels. De la Cruz was able to moderate a "Romantasy Rules" panel inside Barnum Hall, while other panels focused on topics like fighting off writer’s block, finding your voice, building suspense and navigating a creative career.
"It’s definitely [a chance] to get authors to talk about their latest books … I would say maybe some of our audience are aspiring writers, so sometimes we talk about craft, writing craft and stuff like that, or talk about themes of the day," De la Cruz said of the event’s numerous panels.
Special events were also throughout the day, ranging from the "So, You Think You Can Narrate?" audiobook voice challenge to an hour of fantasy book-themed bingo and trivia. All of the events and author signings were incredibly well-attended, with teenagers from across the area getting to the festival by bus, bike and on foot. The continued success of the festival brings De la Cruz hope for her industry’s present and future.
"As [young adult novels have] gotten popular, it’s fun to see kids reading," she added. "I think now it’s even more important because there’s so many other distractions that are way more addictive like scrolling and TikTok, so you’re really battling against that. I think now more than ever it’s really important to teach kids to read for pleasure."
For those that caught the writing itch attending the festival, De la Cruz said that aspiring scribes should "focus on their craft" without being overly concerned about what publishers may think, and that they should continue to read as much as possible to expand their repertoire.
Writing is just one avenue, she added, with her talks to middle schoolers and high schoolers being focused on having positive life experiences throughout the artistic realm.
"[I] tell kids to have a fulfilling life, a meaningful life," De la Cruz said. "It’s great to work in the arts, and it doesn’t have to be writing, [it can be] singing, dancing, painting, but your life is definitely more, it becomes richer, if you devote it to the arts."
