New York Times bestselling authors Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz are bringing Charleston-based YALLFEST, currently the biggest and most celebrated young adult book festival in the country, to the West Coast as YALLWEST April 10-12. Stohl (Beautiful Creatures) and de la Cruz (Witches of East End) are bringing together 80 authors and artists, including 37 New York Times bestsellers, at the Santa Monica Public Library for Los Angeles’ first YA book festival.
“Starting a festival like YALLWEST here in the place where so many professional writers live is a great opportunity for the community, and for all of us who relish the chance to connect in a personal way to our readers,” said author Holly Goldberg Sloan (Counting by 7s) who lives in Santa Monica Canyon.
The mother of two sons, Sloan finds much of her writing material comes from incidents that emotionally move her, which is why even as a YA writer, her work draws readers of all ages.
“I try, in my fiction and in my life, even in dire situations, to find some humor. I hope that people laugh when they read Counting by 7s, which sounds sort of crazy when you know it’s about a child losing her parents in a car accident,” she said.
Having spent most of her writing career working in film and television (she wrote the baseball movie Angels in the Outfield), Sloan has a unique understanding of the way YA novels draw older readers as well.
“The category YA turns into what is called ‘family entertainment.’ I think I might be more comfortable with that term because it speaks to the values in the content, not the age of the protagonist,” she said, adding that what really interests her about YA writing is the idea of getting young people to read. “Watching imagery is one kind of storytelling, but reading is another and it requires more work. In my mind it also brings a different kind of enjoyment.”
Ransom Riggs, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling novel, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, agrees that participating in YALLWEST brings with it an incredible feeling of community, both with readers and with the other writers.
“We young adult writers are like a big family, and these festivals can feel a bit like family reunions,” said Riggs, who will give the inaugural keynote address. “Young people and teenagers especially are so fired up with enthusiasm that it’s contagious, and hearing their excitement about reading always fires me up about writing.”
Although Riggs and his wife, bestselling YA author Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me), write specifically for a YA audience, he told the Post the phenomenon of older readers may occur because he is mainly trying to please himself when he writes.
“I have a bit of a dual personality: there are big parts of me, especially the story-sense parts, that are still 14 years old, but I’m an adult and my adult perspective and concerns come into play constantly, as well,” Riggs said. “So both younger and older people find something that speaks to them. That’s my theory, anyway.”
Riggs is about to put another popular theory to test – the book is always better than the movie – when Tim Burton brings his novel to the big screen in 2016. Palisadian Colleen Atwood, featured in the Palisadian-Post on Feb. 19, is designing costuming for the movie adaptation.
“Once in a while I’d say the movie is better,” Riggs said, adding that authors give up a huge amount of control when selling a book to Hollywood. “You have to be okay with that. That’s certainly the case with the Miss Peregrine adaptation, though I’m luckier than most in one way: I grew up loving the work of the director who’s making my movie.”
In true LA style, festival panels will feature authors, artists, musicians and book-to-film Hollywood notables. YA author cover band Tiger Beat, fronted by bestselling author Libba Bray, will play the Saturday event at Santa Monica High School’s Barnum Hall.
The majority of the festival events are free, with the exception of four ticketed events. Tickets may be purchased in advance at www.yallwest.com.
The festival goes live on April 11, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Santa Monica High School (601 Pico Boulevard) and April 12, noon to 5 p.m. at the Santa Monica Public Library (601 Santa Monica Boulevard).
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