23 Feb: Lamar Giles

Lamar Giles is a well-published author who has written for globally beloved brands like DC Comics, Star Wars, and National Geographic.

He is a three-time Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award nominee, a recipient of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association’s Youth Literary Award, and founding member of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books. He resides in Virginia with his family. 
Website: https://www.lamargiles.com/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/lamargiles/
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/lamargiles.bsky.social
Watch for: Star Wars: Sanctuary (A Bad Batch Novel) August, 2025

Star Wars: Sanctuary (A Bad Batch Novel) (Random House Rules, August, 2025)
Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, and Omega gamble on a mission to help rebuild Pabu in this thrilling adventure for The Bad Batch.

Ruin Road (Scholastic, 2024)
Cade Webster lives between worlds. He’s a standout football star at the right school but lives in the wrong neighborhood–if you let his classmates tell it. Everywhere but home, people are afraid of him for one reason or another. Afraid he’s too big, too fast, too ambitious, too Black. Then one fateful night, to avoid a dangerous encounter with the police, he ducks into a pawn shop. An impulse purchase and misspoken desire change everything when Cade tells the shopkeeper he wishes people would stop acting so scared around him, and the wish is granted…

At first, it feels like things have taken a turn for the better. But it’s not just Cade that people no longer fear–it’s everything. With Cade spreading this newfound “courage” wherever he goes, anything can happen. Fearless acts of violence begin to escalate in both his neighborhood and at school. With the right moves, and brave friends, Cade might have one — and only one — chance to save all he loves. But at what cost? After all, the devil’s in the details.

Static: Up All Night (DC Comics, 2023)
Virgil Hawkins has just gone through a bad break up. He can’t get over his ex, so his best friend Richie has an idea for how to distract him: attend a music festival in their city of Dakota. But wouldn’t you know it—his ex is in attendance. And that’s just the beginning of his troubles. A series of encounters and events leads to an all-night adventure involving super villains, a diner, a reluctant rapper, and a size-changing kleptomaniac, as well as Virgil’s frequent bad decision making. But in the end, with the help of his friends, Virgil will find he can move on from a broken heart.

The Getaway (Scholastic, 2022)
Jay is living his best life at Karloff Country, one of the world’s most famous resorts. He’s got his family, his crew, and an incredible after-school job at the property’s main theme park. Life isn’t so great for the rest of the world, but when people come here to vacation, it’s to get away from all that. As things outside get worse, trouble starts seeping into Karloff. First, Jay’s friend Connie and her family disappear in the middle of the night and no one will talk about it. Then the richest and most powerful families start arriving, only… they aren’t leaving. Unknown to the employees, the resort has been selling shares in an end-of-the-world oasis. The best of the best at the end of days. And in order to deliver the top-notch customer service the wealthy clientele paid for, the employees will be at their total beck and call.

Whether they like it or not. Yet Karloff Country didn’t count on Jay and his crew–and just how far they’ll go to find out the truth and save themselves. But what’s more dangerous: the monster you know in your home or the unknown nightmare outside the walls?

The Legendary Alston Boys series find local sleuths, Otto and Sheed two adventurous cousins unraveling mischief using their unmatched powers of deduction.

The Last Last Day of Summer (Versify, 2019)
The Last Mirror on the Left (Versify, 2020)
The Last Chance for Logan County (Versify, 2021)
Epic Ellisons: Cosmos Camp (Versify, 2023)

Not So Pure and Simple (Quill Tree Books, 2020)
Del has had a crush on Kiera Westing since kindergarten. And now, during their junior year, she’s finally available. So when Kiera volunteers for an opportunity at their church, Del’s right behind her. Though he quickly realizes he’s inadvertently signed up for a Purity Pledge.

His dad thinks his wires are crossed, and his best friend, Qwan, doesn’t believe any girl is worth the long game. But Del’s not about to lose his dream girl, and that’s where fellow pledger Jameer comes in. He can put in the good word. In exchange, Del just has to get answers to the Pledgers’ questions…about sex ed. With other boys circling Kiera like sharks, Del needs to make his move fast. But as he plots and plans, he neglects to ask the most important question: What does Kiera want? He can’t think about that too much, though, because once he gets the girl, it’ll all sort itself out. Right?

Spin (Scholastic, 2020)
When rising star Paris Secord (aka DJ ParSec) is found dead on her turntables, it sends the local music scene reeling. No one is feeling that grief more than her shunned pre-fame best friend, Kya, and ParSec’s chief groupie, Fuse — two sworn enemies who happened to be the ones who discovered her body.The police have few leads, and when the trail quickly turns cold, the authorities don’t seem to be pushing too hard to investigate further. But nobody counted on Paris’s deeply loyal fans, ParSec Nation, or the outrage that would drive Fuse and Kya to work together. As ParSec Nation takes to social media and the streets in their crusade for justice, Fuse and Kya start digging into Paris’s past, stumbling across a deadly secret. With new info comes new motives. New suspects. And a fandom that will stop at nothing in their obsessive quest for answers, not even murder…

Fresh Ink (Ember, 2019)
Thirteen of the most accomplished YA authors deliver a label-defying anthology that includes ten short stories, a graphic novel, and a one-act play from Walter Dean Myers never before in-print. This collection addresses topics like gentrification, acceptance, untimely death, coming out, and poverty and ranges in genre from contemporary realistic fiction to adventure and romance. It will inspire you to break conventions, bend the rules, and color outside the lines. All you need is fresh ink.

Overturned (Scholastic, 2019)
Nikki Tate is infamous, even by Las Vegas standards. Her dad is sitting on death row, convicted of killing his best friend in a gambling dispute turned ugly. And for five years, he’s maintained his innocence. But Nikki wants no part of that. She’s been working on Operation Escape Vegas: playing in illegal card games so she can save up enough money to get out come graduation day.Then her dad’s murder conviction is overturned. The new evidence seems to come out of nowhere and Nikki’s life becomes a mess when he’s released from prison. Because the dad who comes home is not the dad she remembers. And he’s desperately obsessed with finding out who framed him–and why.As her dad digs into the seedy underbelly of Vegas, the past threatens everything and Nikki is drawn into his deadly hunt for the truth. But in the city of sin, some sinners will do anything to keep their secrets, and Nikki soon finds herself playing for the biggest gamble ever–her life.

Fake ID (Amistad, 2015)
Lamar Giles takes readers on a wild and dark ride in this contemporary Witness Protection thriller, perfect for fans of James Patterson, Harlan Coben, and John Grisham. Nick Pearson is hiding in plain sight. In fact, his name isn’t really Nick Pearson. He shouldn’t tell you his real name, his real hometown, or why his family just moved to Stepton, Virginia. And he definitely shouldn’t tell you about his friend Eli Cruz and the major conspiracy Eli was uncovering when he died. About how Nick had to choose between solving Eli’s murder with his hot sister, Reya, and “staying low-key” like the Program said to do. But he’s going to tell you—unless he gets caught first. . . .

Endangered (HarperCollins, 2015)
Endangered is a thrilling page-turner perfect for fans of Barry Lyga’s I Hunt Killers, from acclaimed author Lamar Giles, author of the Edgar Award–nominated Fake ID. The one secret she cares about keeping—her identity—is about to be exposed. That is, unless Lauren “Panda” Daniels—an anonymous photo blogger who specializes in busting classmates and teachers in compromising positions—plays along with her blackmailer’s little game of Dare or . . . Dare.

But when the game turns deadly, Panda doesn’t know what to do. And she may need to step out of the shadows to save herself . . . and everyone else on the Admirer’s hit list.

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