Our MS/US Writing Teacher, Ms. Sara Peck, is one of the organizers for Charleston’s annual YALL Fest, a young adult literary festival that takes place in downtown Charleston each November. Our students were lucky enough to have an author and a publisher visit the school to share their unique perspectives about their chosen professions, and many students attended YALL Fest activities on Saturday, November 11.

USL student Mariam Nguyen shares:

This year, Soman Chainani came and spoke at our school. He talked about his series, The School for Good and Evil, and discussed his views on Disney. A young adult novel publisher came as well, and she taught us about the process of writing and publishing a book.

This was the third time that I went to YALL Fest. I enjoyed seeing Renee Ahdieh and Sabaa Tahir. There were many students from USL that went, and I really enjoyed getting to see them outside of school. The smackdown was probably my favorite event of YALL Fest. I really loved seeing all the authors lineup and talk about their books. They played games and read their writings from when they were younger. This year, Soman Chainani and YALL Fest was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed going this year.

USL student Mikhael Douglass shares:

“YALLFest had multiple authors in it, including Soman Chainani, Veronica Roth, Jason Segel, Angie Thomas and more.  YALLFest took place at the Charleston Music Hall. With multiple events like the Opening and Closing keynotes, the Smackdown and panels, I had a wonderful time! Meeting all the different authors was a great experience, and I look forward to going next year. In my opinion, the best was the Smackdown. It had multiple, different little skits and was creative, fun and super cool! I loved seeing a new environment of authors and readers, and I appreciate all of the hard work Ms. Peck put into it!”