Yo Book Fest: The Young People’s Book Festival of Greater Philadelphia

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Yo Book Fest: The Young People’s Book Festival of Greater Philadelphia

A community book event curated by Black Rock Middle School (LMSD) & Children’s Book World (Haverford, PA)

04/10/2026

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4: Support YO! Book Festival by going to Dig Inn in Suburban Square. All day! Use the code DIGFUNDRAISER for online orders.

13/09/2026

👋 Welcome to YO! Book Fest, Yoojin!
🗓 October 24, 2026
📍 Black Rock Middle School (1860 Montgomery Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085)
⏰ 10 am - 4 pm
🎟 https://yobookfest.com

Yoojin Grace Wuertz is the author of EVERYTHING BELONGS TO US, which was selected as a New York Times Editors’ Choice, longlisted for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, and included on Kirkus Reviews’ Best Fiction of 2017. She is the author of two picture books, HABBI’S TREASURES (September 2026) and SOMI’S STAR DAY (September 2027), both from RISE x Penguin Workshop. Her debut young adult novel, WELCOME HOME, STRANGER, is forthcoming from FSG Books For Young Readers in May 2027. Grace’s writing has appeared in Guernica, ArtReview, The Times Literary Supplement, and The Los Angeles Review of Books, among others. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Brattleboro Literary Festival.

Grace was born in Seoul, South Korea, and immigrated to the United States at age six. She holds a BA in English from Yale University and an MFA in fiction from New York University. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey, with her family.

13/09/2026

👋 Welcome to YO! Book Fest, Rita!
🗓 October 24, 2026
📍 Black Rock Middle School (1860 Montgomery Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085)
⏰ 10 am - 4 pm
🎟 https://yobookfest.com

Rita Williams-Garcia is an award-winning author of books for Middle Grade and YA readers. She is most known for the Gaither Sisters Trilogy, most notably, the Newbery Honor title One Crazy Summer. Ms. Williams-Garcia resides in Queens, NY.

12/09/2026

👋 Welcome to YO! Book Fest, Renée!
🗓 October 24, 2026
📍 Black Rock Middle School (1860 Montgomery Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085)
⏰ 10 am - 4 pm
🎟 https://yobookfest.com

Renée Watson is a #1 New York Times bestselling author. Her novel All the Blues in the Sky won the Newbery Medal, and Piecing Me Together received a Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award. Her books include the Ryan Hart series, Some Places More Than Others, This Side of Home, What Momma Left Me, Betty Before X, cowritten with Ilyasah Shabazz, Watch Us Rise, cowritten with Ellen Hagan, and Love Is a Revolution, as well as acclaimed picture books: Summer Is Here, Maya's Song, The 1619 Project: Born on the Water, written with Nikole Hannah-Jones, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, and Harlem's Little Blackbird, which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Renée splits her time between Portland, Oregon and New York City.

12/09/2026

👋 Welcome to YO! Book Fest, Diana!
🗓 October 24, 2026
📍 Black Rock Middle School (1860 Montgomery Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085)
⏰ 10 am - 4 pm
🎟 https://yobookfest.com

Diana Rodriguez Wallach is an award-winning author of nine young adult novels. Her latest, THE SILENCED, tackles the Troubled Teen Industry and is the winner of the 2026 International Thriller Awards for Best YA Thriller, a nominee for the 2026 Bram Stoker Awards for Best YA Horror, a honoree for the Millikin Medal for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, and a nominee for the Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers, 2026-2027. She is also the author of SMALL TOWN MONSTERS and HATCHET GIRLS.

11/09/2026

👋 Welcome to YO! Book Fest, Audrey!
🗓 October 24, 2026
📍 Black Rock Middle School (1860 Montgomery Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085)
⏰ 10 am - 4 pm
🎟 https://yobookfest.com

Audrey Vernick is the author of more than 30 books for young readers, including When I Redraw the World, Homesick, and the New York Times Notable Book Brothers at Bat. Her books have been published in more than a dozen countries. A frequent presenter at schools across the country, Audrey lives near the ocean in New Jersey. Visit her at audreyvernick.com.

11/09/2026

👋 Welcome to YO! Book Fest, Jamilah!
🗓 October 24, 2026
📍 Black Rock Middle School (1860 Montgomery Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085)
⏰ 10 am - 4 pm
🎟 https://yobookfest.com

Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow is an educator and children’s book author whose stories center Philadelphia’s Black Muslim community. She has taught in classrooms and alternative settings for more than fifteen years and develops antiracist curricula. This work influences her affirming stories. Her books have been recognized by educational institutions and publications like Ebony, NPR, and the National Black Child Development Institute. These books have also received dozens of starred reviews and appeared on many “Best of” lists, including TIME Magazine’s “10 Best Children’s Books” of the year and Book Riot’s “20 Best Children’s Books of All Time.” She has received the prestigious Walter, Irma Black, and Golden Kite award honors and she is a two-time winner of the Muslim Bookstagram picture book award. She also mentors aspiring authors through We Need Diverse Books and the Highlights Foundation. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and two sons.

11/09/2026

👋 Welcome to YO! Book Fest, Kon!
🗓 October 24, 2026
📍 Black Rock Middle School (1860 Montgomery Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085)
⏰ 10 am - 4 pm
🎟 https://yobookfest.com

As a kid, Kon Tan was obsessed with dinosaurs, monster movies, and superheroes. Unfortunately, one day he grew up but he was lucky to find work as a teacher, bookseller, and then an animator.

Things he’s still afraid of are: the ocean, ticks, the sun on a cloudless day. He’s proud to have conquered his fear of heights and riding a bike. And eventually, he promises himself he’ll learn how to swim.

10/09/2026

👋 Welcome to YO! Book Fest, Jonathan!
🗓 October 24, 2026
📍 Black Rock Middle School (1860 Montgomery Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085)
⏰ 10 am - 4 pm
🎟 https://yobookfest.com

Jonathan Stutzman is the New York Times bestselling author of many beloved and award-winning books for kids, including the Tiny T. Rex series, the Llama Destroys the World series, Don't Feed the Coos!, The Mouse Who Carried a House on His Back, and many more! He lives in a small town in Pennsylvania with his wife, Heather, and French bulldog, Hugo. Jonathan can never find all of his socks and has suspicions that it could be the work of sock monkeys... or maybe, Hugo?

10/09/2026

👋 Welcome to YO! Book Fest, Eric!
🗓 October 24, 2026
📍 Black Rock Middle School (1860 Montgomery Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085)
⏰ 10 am - 4 pm
🎟 https://yobookfest.com

Eric Smith is an award-winning Young Adult author and literary agent living in Philadelphia. He’s worked with New York Times and USA Today bestselling and critically acclaimed authors across genres and categories, and is the founder of Neighborhood Literary.

In his author life, his latest book, With or Without You, published with HarperCollins / Inkyard Press in November 2023, and was a Junior Library Guild selection and the Pennsylvania Center for the Book’s 2025 Great Reads from Great Places selection. His upcoming Middle Grade novels include The Adopted Kids’ Guide to Surviving Seventh Grade (Crown, 2027) with Jazz Taylor and K.A. Reynolds, and The Astronautics (Chronicle, 2027).

Address

Black Rock Middle School 1860 Montgomery Avenue

19085

Opening Hours

10:00 - 16:00

Website

http://www.yobookfest.com/

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Yo Book Fest: The Young People’s Book Festival of Greater Philadelphia

04/10/2026

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12/09/2026

11/09/2026

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10/09/2026

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