Lamar Giles

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 and Endangered. He is also one of the founding members of the American non-profit We Need Diverse Books.

Lamar Giles
Giles at the 2019 Texas Book Festival
Born (1979-11-14) November 14, 1979
Hopewell, Virginia
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
EducationB.S. in Communications, minor in English
Alma materOld Dominion University
GenreYoung Adult Fiction
Notable worksFake ID, Endangered
Years active2004 - present
Website
lamargiles.com

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 Harper Collins 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's sister.[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 who's 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]

Bibliography

Works under "Lamar Giles"

Novels

Short stories

As contributor

  • "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)

As editor

  • Fresh Ink (Crown, 2018)

Works under "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)

Awards and Nominations

Nominated

2015

  • Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Fiction for Fake ID (HarperCollins, 2014)[16]

2015-2016

  • Georgia Peach Award for Fake ID (HarperCollins, 2014)[17]

2016

  • Edgar Award Nominee for Best Young Adult Mystery for Endangered (HarperTeen, 2015)[18]

2016-2017

  • Louisiana Young Readers Choice Award for Fake ID (HarperCollins, 2014)[19]

2017

  • Lincoln Award for Fake ID (HarperCollins, 2014)[20]

Won

2015-2016

  • Virginia's Readers Choice Award for 2015-2016, High School Selections (grades 10 - 12) for Fake ID (HarperCollins, 2014)[21]

References
  1. "My Birthday Wish: Meet Stephen King". Lamar "L.R." Giles (Old Site). 2014-09-26. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  2. "Author Interview with Lamar Giles". The New York Public Library. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  3. "Lamar Giles". The Booking Biz. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  4. "How I Became A Writer by Lamar Giles | Epic Reads Blog". Epic Reads. 2014-01-21. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  5. "2006-2007 Fellowship Recipients - The Virginia Commission for the Arts" (PDF). The Virginia Commission for the Arts. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  6. "Interview: Lamar Giles on Coffee, Videogames, and "The Important Stuff"". The Booking Biz. 2018-06-01. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  7. "Author Interview: Lamar Giles on Writing Mysteries, Diversity & His Writing Journey". Cynthia Leitich Smith. 2017-02-23. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  8. "5 Questions for Lamar Giles | YARN". Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  9. "About WNDB". diversebooks.org. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  10. "National Book Foundation - 2018 National Book Awards". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  11. "Lamar Giles". Spalding University. 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. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  13. "Author Interview with Lamar Giles". The New York Public Library. 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): 490–490. doi:10.1353/bcc.2015.0468. ISSN 1558-6766.
  15. "Fresh Ink: An Anthology by Lamar Giles | SLJ Review". School Library Journal. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  16. Kellogg, Carolyn. "Finalists for the 2015 Edgar Awards are announced". latimes.com. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  17. "Past Winners & Nominees | Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers". georgiapeachaward.org. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  18. "Edgars Database | Search the Edgars Database". theedgars.com. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  19. "Previous Years LYRC Nominees - Louisiana Young Readers Choice - Literacy and Reading - State Library of Louisiana". www.state.lib.la.us. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  20. "The 2017 Abraham Lincoln Award Nominations". Lincoln Park High School Library. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  21. "Virginia Readers' Choice - Wiki". www.jmrl.org. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
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