YALLWEST 2017!
~ A photo essay and review by Jen (California, USA)
YALLWEST is an annual book festival for people of all ages who love young adult and middle grade books. YALLWEST 2015 and 2016 were amazing, and so I couldn't wait to go to the 2017 YALLWEST! |
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| When YALLWEST 2017 opened its gates, we found numerous booths stocked with free ARCs (Advanced Reader's Copies) of soon-to-be-published books, along with treats ... |
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| ... like gourmet donuts (under the blue drape) ... |
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| ... and cool swag! |
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| Many booths offered free tote bags to carry the loot. |
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| I picked up some awesome free stuff, including an ARC of Ringer by Lauren Oliver, an ARC of Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart, an ARC of Generation One by Pittacus Lore, a copy of Red Rising by Pierce Brown, a Deep Blue beach towel that folds into a tote bag, a book of sticky notes, earbuds, a Black Widow pin, a Warcross keychain, sparkly blue Deep Blue nailpolish, a Dumplin' pin, a Ramona Blue pin, and unicorn poo (aka: rainbow-colored bath salts). |
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| Epic Reads
offered two complimentary book-themed yoga classes during
the day. As a bonus, the first 40 people in line for each
class got an Epic Reads yoga mat to take home! After a refreshing yoga class, I began my mission to see some YA authors. |
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| I spotted Leigh Bardugo, Jennifer E. Smith, James Dashner, Kiersten White, Jessica Cluess, and Nicola Yoon waiting to attend First in Line's author meet & greet pizza party. |
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| I found Lauren Oliver at her signing table ... |
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| ... where she
signed my copy of Before I Fall!! Then it was off to watch some author panels. |
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| In the main auditorium, Margaret Stohl, Veronica Roth, Melissa de la Cruz, Marie Lu, S. Jae-Jones, and Maurene Goo discussed fandoms. |
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| Then Renee Ahdieh, Claudia Gray, Marcus Sedgwick, and Neal Shusterman joined Veronica Roth and Marie Lu to discuss the dystopian genre. |
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| In the grassy area behind the cafeteria, I enjoyed an intimate Bookstagrammer meet up, featuring Jordan (@pagetravels), Jesy (@jesyelyse/@jesysbooks), BookCaden (@athousandbookstoread), and Kaitlyn (@bigscreenbooks) who take amazingly beautiful photos featuring YA novels, sometimes with as little equipment as a cellphone and some sunlight! |
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| After the panel, Kaitlyn, Jesy, Caden, and Jordan posed for a group picture with some of the meet-up attendees. |
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| The final event of the festival was the "Smackdown," hosted by a now-pajama-clad Veronica Roth and Alexander London. |
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| Embarrassing childhood photos of some of the authors were shown ... |
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| ... and fun
facts were revealed in games like Never Have I Ever. As YALLWEST 2017 drew to a close, I felt a twinge of sadness. It will be a whole year until the next YALLWEST ... |
| But when a book fest ends, a new book begins! |
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YALLWEST 2017 was held on April 29th at Santa Monica High School in Santa Monica, California, USA.* *Jen received priority admission to the festival and was offered a complimentary ticket to all ticketed talks. |
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jen is also known as J.W. Lynne, a best selling author of eleven novels. Click on any of the titles below to see the book on Amazon! THE UNKNOWN: Eight kids learn the shocking reason why they were kidnapped. ABOVE THE SKY: A girl lives in a world where touching her soulmate is forbidden. THE DARKNESS OUTSIDE: A teen is locked in a bunker to take a simulated trip to the moon. KID DOCS: An experimental program turns kids into doctors. WILD ANIMAL SCHOOL: A girl falls in love with a boy at an exotic animal ranch. WHAT HE DIDN'T TELL ME: A traumatized girl meets a boy with a horrible secret. IF I TELL: A teen wonders if her father is a serial killer. Besides reading books and dreaming up stories to write, Jen's favorite activities are singing along to musical theater soundtracks and hiking in California's beautiful parks. **Jen's books are available on Kindle Unlimited.** |
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Heading to Los Angeles for
YALLWEST? Check out Jen's L.A. Bucket List for great ideas of things to do while you're in town! Jen's reviews and photos of other YALLWEST book festivals: YALLWEST 2016 Day 1 YALLWEST 2016 Day 2 YALLWEST 2018 YALLWEST 2019 YALLWEST 2022 Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, YallWest 2020 and 2021 were not held in-person and were rebranded by the organizers as YALLSTAYHOME (Yall Stay Home), a virtual book gathering that took place largely online. The next YALLWEST will likely be in 2024! Other popular posts you might enjoy: Descriptions of great YA books in ten words or less YA Dystopian Book Bucket List YA Contemporary Book Bucket List Go on a blind date with a YA book |
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YALLWEST 2024 tips: Follow YALLWEST on Facebook and Twitter to be the first to know the details about the 2024 festival, including the complete author lineup and schedule. Before you go, look over the schedule and program and plan out your day. If you want to be among the first people to walk through the gates when the festival opens, arrive early. For YALLWEST 2023, about 30 people were in line at 7:30 AM (the festival was scheduled to open at 9 AM) and the line grew quickly after 8AM. If there's an ARC of a soon-to-be-published book that is on your must-read list, stop by the booth where it will be given away as soon as you arrive at the festival to make sure you know the rules to get that specific ARC. If there's an author who you'd like to have sign your book, review the signing schedule carefully. Lining up to meet certain authors (generally those marked on the schedule with an *) may require a wristband. Check the rules to see when those wristbands will be distributed. If there's a panel that you MUST attend, arrive at the panel early. At YALLWEST 2023, I saw lines for some popular panels beginning more than 20 minutes before the panel was scheduled to start. A few events (generally the "Keynotes" and "Smackdown") require tickets that you purchase online in advance. Be prepared to wait in long lines for almost everything. Pack a refillable water bottle. There are drinking fountains at the school where you can fill your bottle throughout the day. Dress in layers. In Santa Monica, California, the weather tends to be cool early in the day and in the evening, but temperatures can get hot during the day. Wear comfortable closed-toed shoes. The Santa Monica High School campus is not very large, but you will be surprised how much walking you will do, often on crowded walkways. |