Standing room only crowd expected for Friday's YALLFest Preview at CCPL

CHARLESTON, S.C. — An overflow, standing-room-only crowd is expected Friday when the Charleston County Public Library hosts some of the top-selling young adult authors as a preview to this weekend’s YALLFest.

Teens from as far away as Ohio and Arkansas registered to hear seven of the most successful authors of teen literature at CCPL’s Red Carpet Preview event at 4 p.m. Friday in the Main Library’s Teen Lounge, 68 Calhoun Street. With multiple New York Times bestsellers between them, the authors will read from their latest novels, discuss trends in teen literature, answer questions and sign copies of their books.

The rock star novelists attending are: Lauren Oliver, author of Before I Fall and the Delirium trilogy; Melissa de la Cruz, author of the Blue Bloods series; Michael Johnston, co-author of Frozen with de la Cruz; Michelle Hodkin, author of the Mara Dyer trilogy; Carrie Ryan, author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth series; Veronica Rossi, author of the Under the Never Sky trilogy; and Alexandra Bracken, author of The Darkest Minds series.

Although admission is free, the limited space meant teens needed to register to get reserved seats. Excitement for the event drew attention and calls from as far away as Ohio and Arkansas, and all the reserved seats were booked weeks ago.

The Red Carpet Preview wraps up the month-long One Book Charleston County program featuring Divergent, the first novel in a trilogy by bestselling author Veronica Roth. Divergent and Roth have received critical and popular acclaim, and Roth is one of YALLFest’s keynote speakers Saturday, November 9 at 10 p.m. at the Charleston Music Hall. Tickets are required through www.yallfest.org.

Divergent follows a teen’s journey of self-discovery in a futuristic society that separates residents based on their beliefs and skills. Receiving both critical and popular acclaim, Divergent drew the attention of Hollywood and is being touted as the next Hunger Games. A major motion picture based on the novel is being released in March with stars Shailene Woodley, Theo James and Kate Winslet.

As part of CCPL’s One Book, the library hosted lectures, musical performances, movie showings, book discussions and more – each event focusing on a theme within the book.