The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

Friends Gerardo Delgadillo, 14, left, Abraham Moran, 13, Rene Marquez, 13, Raul Flores, 14, Edwin Rodriguez, 12, Bryan Becerra, 13, and Alexiz Ramos Becerra, 13, cool off in the shade at USC.  (Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times)

USC senior Christine Zhang browses through books.  (Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times)

Left to right: Veronica Roth, Lissa Price, Lauren Oliver and Victoria Schwab speak at the Young Adult Fiction: The Outer Limits panel at the L.A. Times Festival of Books, held on the USC campus.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Book festival attendees page through offerings at the Vroman’s Bookstore booth.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Sitting on a lawn, Cynthia Longino reads “The Daughters of Bastards,” which she received as a gift at the book festival. With her is Anthony Bernal.   (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Author Margaret Atwood, right, in conversation with Michael Silverblatt at the L.A. Times Festival of Books at USC.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Crowds at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

The USC Song Girls and Trojan Marching Band perform at the opening ceremonies of the book festival.   (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Magnets are on display at the Vroman’s Bookstore booth.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Collin Hinds carries his son Preston, 4. It was Preston’s first time at the L.A. Times’ annual book festival.   (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

At the Los Angeles Times Books Prizes ceremony, Canadian writer and activist Margaret Atwood accepts the Innovator’s Award, which recognizes cutting-edge work to bring books, publishing and storytelling into the future.   (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Fergus M. Bordwich, center, won the history category for “America’s Great Debate: Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Compromise That Preserved the Union.” He stands at the USC Bovard Auditorium with David L. Ulin, Times book reviewer, left, and Jim Newton, Times editor at large.   (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

A.S. King gives her acceptance speech after winning the Young Adult Literature Award for her novel “Ask the Passengers.”   (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

The Robert Kirsch Award, for a body of work of about the American West, was given to historian Kevin Starr, the former state librarian and author of the eight-volume “Americans and the California Dream” series. He thanked Catholic school nuns and priests for teaching him how to write clearly and thoughtfully.   (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)