Lamar Giles (born November 14, 1979) 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 We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) is a nonprofit organization created to promote diversity of multiple forms in children's literature and publishing, which grew out of the Twitter hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooks in 2014. The organization's programming inc ...

Personal life

Giles grew up next to an army base in Hopewell,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. He wrote his first novel at 14 and graduated from Hopewell High School in 1997. Giles has a B.S. in communications with a Minor in English from

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia with ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, Virginia. He started wanting to become a published writer after reading

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

's On Writing in college, and sold his first short story at age 21. He also independently published novels and short stories as L.R. Giles. Giles worked as a real estate agent for a while before being awarded a fellowship from the Virginia Commission of the Arts in 2006. He sold what would become his first novel, ''Fake ID,'' at 31. Giles is a founding member of the non-profit

, their former VP of Communications, and was on their 2017 advisory board. Giles was a judge for the 2018

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

s and is a faculty member in the

Spalding University Spalding University is a private Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. History Spalding University traces its origins to Nazareth Academy, one of the oldest educational instituti ...

MFA program. He lives with his wife in

Chesapeake Chesapeake often refers to: *Chesapeake people, a Native American tribe also known as the Chesepian * The Chesapeake, a.k.a. Chesapeake Bay *Delmarva Peninsula, also known as the Chesapeake Peninsula Chesapeake may also refer to: Populated plac ...

, Virginia.

Selected works

Giles' debut young adult novel, ''Fake ID'', was published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

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. Giles cites Gerald Shur's non-fiction works and '' Casanegra'' by Steve Barnes as some of his inspirations for the novel. His next novel, ''Endangered'', about a vigilante teen whose undercover identity gets revealed to the world, was published by Harper Teen in 2015. Giles is the editor of the anthology ''Fresh Ink'', a collection of stories by authors

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, Thien Pham,

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Sharon G. Flake Sharon G. Flake (born December 25, 1955) is an American writer of children and young adult literature. She has lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with her daughter for many years. She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a BA in Engl ...

, Schuyler Bailar, and Aminah Mae Safi about marginalized experiences. It was published by

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

in 2018.

Bibliography

Works under "Lamar Giles"

Novels *''Fake ID'' (

, 2014) *''Endangered'' (

HarperTeen HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

, 2015) *''Overturned'' ( Scholastic, 2017) *''Spin'' ( Scholastic, 2019) *''The Last Last-Day-of-Summer'' (Versify/HMH, 2019) *''Not So Pure and Simple'' (

, 2020) *''The Last Mirror on the Left'' (Versify/HMH, 2020) *''The Last Chance for Logan County'' (Versify/HMH, 2021) *''The Getaway'' (Scholastic, 2022) 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 (

, 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) 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 The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

for Best Young Adult Fiction for ''Fake ID'' (HarperCollins, 2014) 2015-2016 * Georgia Peach Award for ''Fake ID'' (HarperCollins, 2014) 2016 *

Nominee for Best Young Adult Mystery for ''Endangered'' (HarperTeen, 2015) 2016-2017 * Louisiana Young Readers Choice Award for ''Fake ID'' (HarperCollins, 2014) 2017 * Lincoln Award for ''Fake ID'' (HarperCollins, 2014) Won 2015-2016 * Virginia's Readers Choice Award for 2015–2016, High School Selections (grades 10 - 12) for ''Fake ID'' (HarperCollins, 2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giles, Lamar Living people 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists American male novelists African-American novelists 1979 births People from Hopewell, Virginia African-American short story writers Old Dominion University alumni Spalding University faculty 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American people African-American male writers