Lamar Giles
Born (1979-11-14) November 14, 1979
Hopewell, Virginia, U.S.
EducationB.S. in Communications, minor in English; M.F.A in English, Creative Writing
Alma materOld Dominion University
GenreYoung Adult Fiction
Years active2004–present
Notable worksFake ID, Spin, The Last Last-Day-of-Summer, Not So Pure and Simple
Website
lamargiles.com

Lamar Giles (born November 14, 1979)[1] is an American author of young adult novels and short stories. He best known for his award-winning novels with his most popular being Fake ID, SPIN, Not So Pure and Simple, and The Legendary Alston Boys middle grade fantasy series. He is also one of the founding members of the American non-profit We Need Diverse Books.

Personal life

Giles grew up next to an army base[2] in Hopewell, Virginia.[3] He wrote his first novel at 14[4] and graduated from Hopewell High School in 1997.[3] Giles has a B.S. in communications with a Minor in English from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.[5] He started wanting to become a published writer after reading Stephen King's On Writing in college,[6] and sold his first short story at age 21.[3] He also independently published novels and short stories as L.R. Giles.[4] Giles worked as a real estate agent for a while before being awarded a fellowship from the Virginia Commission of the Arts in 2006.[5] He sold what would become his first novel, Fake ID, at 31.[7]

Giles is a founding member of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books, their former VP of Communications,[8] and was on their 2017 advisory board.[9] Giles was a judge for the 2018 National Book Awards[10] and is a faculty member in the Spalding University MFA program.[11]

He lives with his wife in Chesapeake, Virginia.[3]

Selected works

Giles' debut young adult novel, Fake ID, was published by HarperCollins in 2014. Fake ID is a thriller following an African-American teen moving to a new town under a fake identity because of his father's crimes and who gets entangled in solving the mysterious murder of his best friend.[12] Giles cites Gerald Shur's non-fiction works and Casanegra by Steve Barnes as some of his inspirations for the novel.[13]

His next novel, Endangered, about a vigilante teen whose undercover identity gets revealed to the world, was published by Harper Teen in 2015.[14]

Giles is the editor of the anthology Fresh Ink, a collection of stories by authors Nicola Yoon, Malinda Lo, Melissa de la Cruz, Sara Farizan, Eric Gansworth, Walter Dean Myers, Daniel José Older, Thien Pham, Jason Reynolds, Gene Luen Yang, Sharon G. Flake, Schuyler Bailar, and Aminah Mae Safi about marginalized experiences. It was published by Crown in 2018.[15]

Awards

Awards for Giles's writing
Year Title Award Result Ref.
2015 Fake ID Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Young Adult Novel Finalist [16]
2015-2016 Georgia Peach Award Nominee [17]
Virginia's Readers Choice Award Winner [18]
2016 Endangered Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Young Adult Novel Finalist [19]
2016-17 Fake ID Louisiana Young Readers Choice Award Nominee [20]
2017 Lincoln Award Nominee [21]

Bibliography

As Lamar Giles

Novels

  • Fake ID (HarperCollins, 2014)
  • Endangered (HarperTeen, 2015)
  • Overturned (Scholastic, 2017)
  • Spin (Scholastic, 2019)
  • The Last Last-Day-of-Summer (Versify/HMH, 2019)
  • Not So Pure and Simple (HarperTeen, 2020)
  • The Last Mirror on the Left (Versify/HMH, 2020)
  • The Last Chance for Logan County (Versify/HMH, 2021)
  • The Getaway (Scholastic, 2022)

Anthology contributions

  • "The Historian, the Garrison, and the Cantankerous Cat Woman" in Three Sides of a Heart: Stories About Love Triangles, edited by Natalie C. Parker (HarperTeen, 2018)
  • "Black. Nerd. Problems." in Black Enough, edited by Ibi Zoboi (Balzer + Bray, 2019)
  • "The Oval Filter" in His Hideous Heart: 13 of Edgar Allan Poe's Most Unsettling Tales Reimagined, edited by Dahlia Adler (Flatiron Books, 2019)
  • "Ellison's CORNucopia: A Logan County Story" in The Hero Next Door, edited by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich (Crown, 2019)
  • "Surprise. Party." in Super Puzzletastic Mysteries, Edited by Chris Grabenstein (HarperCollins, 2020)
  • "The Storms and Sunshine of My Life" in RECOGNIZE! An Anthology Honoring and Amplifying Black Life, edited by Wade Hudson & Cheryl Willis Hudson (Crown, 2021)
  • “There’s Going to be a Fight in the Cafeteria on Friday and You Better Not Bring Batman” in Black Boy Joy, edited by Kwame Mbalia (Delacorte Press, 2021)
  • "Love to Hate" in GENERATION WONDER: The New Age of Heroes edited by Barry Lyga, Illustrated by Colleen Doran (Amulet Books, 2022)

Anthologies edited

  • Fresh Ink (Crown, 2018)

As L.R. Giles

Short stories

  • in Dark Dreams: A Collection of Horror and Suspense by Black Writers, edited by Brandon Massey (Dafina, 2004)
  • in Voices from the Other Side, edited by Brandon Massey (Dafina, 2004)
  • in Whispers in the Night, edited by Brandon Massey (Dafina, 2007)
  • "Live Again" (2010)
  • "The Darkness Kept" (2010)
  • "The Track" (2011)
  • "The Shadow Gallery" (2011)
  • "Lover's Spat" (2011)
  • "Doc Damage's Very Bad Day" (2011)
  • "Power and Purpose" (2011)
  • "When Scary People Know Your Name" (2012)

Novels

  • The Serpent and the Stallion, co-authored with Becky Rodgers Boyette (2011)

References

  1. ↑ "My Birthday Wish: Meet Stephen King". Lamar "L.R." Giles (Old Site). 2014-09-26. Archived from the original on 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  2. ↑ "Author Interview with Lamar Giles". The New York Public Library. Archived from the original on 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Lamar Giles". The Booking Biz. Archived from the original on 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  4. 1 2 "How I Became A Writer by Lamar Giles | Epic Reads Blog". Epic Reads. 2014-01-21. Archived from the original on 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  5. 1 2 "2006-2007 Fellowship Recipients - The Virginia Commission for the Arts" (PDF). The Virginia Commission for the Arts. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  6. ↑ "Interview: Lamar Giles on Coffee, Videogames, and "The Important Stuff"". The Booking Biz. 2018-06-01. Archived from the original on 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  7. ↑ "Author Interview: Lamar Giles on Writing Mysteries, Diversity & His Writing Journey". Cynthia Leitich Smith. 2017-02-23. Archived from the original on 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  8. ↑ "5 Questions for Lamar Giles | YARN". Archived from the original on 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  9. ↑ "About WNDB". diversebooks.org. 28 April 2017. Archived from the original on 2018-11-25. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  10. ↑ "National Book Foundation - 2018 National Book Awards". National Book Foundation. Archived from the original on 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  11. ↑ "Lamar Giles". Spalding University. Archived from the original on 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  12. ↑ "Children's Book Review: Fake ID by Lamar Giles. HarperCollins/Amistad, $17.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-06-212184-4". PublishersWeekly.com. Archived from the original on 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  13. ↑ "Author Interview with Lamar Giles". The New York Public Library. Archived from the original on 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  14. ↑ Bush, Elizabeth (2015-05-19). "Endangered by Lamar Giles (review)". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 68 (10): 490. doi:10.1353/bcc.2015.0468. ISSN 1558-6766. S2CID 141729501. Archived from the original on 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  15. ↑ "Fresh Ink: An Anthology by Lamar Giles | SLJ Review". School Library Journal. Archived from the original on 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  16. ↑ Kellogg, Carolyn (21 January 2015). "Finalists for the 2015 Edgar Awards are announced". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2022-12-10. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  17. ↑ "Past Winners & Nominees | Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers". georgiapeachaward.org. Archived from the original on 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  18. ↑ "Virginia Readers' Choice - Wiki". www.jmrl.org. Archived from the original on 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  19. ↑ "Edgars Database | Search the Edgars Database". theedgars.com. Archived from the original on 2020-07-31. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  20. ↑ "Previous Years LYRC Nominees - Louisiana Young Readers Choice - Literacy and Reading - State Library of Louisiana". www.state.lib.la.us. Archived from the original on 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  21. ↑ "The 2017 Abraham Lincoln Award Nominations". Lincoln Park High School Library. Archived from the original on 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
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