Fresh Ink: An Anthology by Lamar Giles. Publishers have to worry about the bottom line. There’s so much talk of “the market” –what it will support, what it wants–that we’ve come to think of it as this Tazmanian Devil that spins unpredictably from vampires to dystopias to teens on a road trip. YEM spoke with Lamar about “Fresh Ink” and the importance of diversity in literature. Why We Need Diverse Books with Lamar Giles. clock. The new Hulu series, "The Hardy Boys," premiered earlier... All your dreams are about to come true because the newest Disney+ movie, Godmothered, is... © Copyright 2019 Young Entertainment Magazine, Where ‘The Fosters’ Left Off and ‘Good Trouble’ Begins, Telly Leung talks to YEM about his new Christmas single, Alexander Elliot shares what it’s like to play The Hardy Boys, Willa Skye shares what it’s like to get Godmothered on Disney+, High School Musical: The Musical: The Holiday Special: A Review. Giles before his debut young adult novel, Fake ID, was published by Harper Collins in 2014. It’s not “We Need (YOU To Write) Diverse Books.”. Here’s the hard reality…every week isn’t going to be #WeNeedDiverseBooks popping on 40 Million screens. LG: Fresh Ink is a collection of 12 short stories for young adults from some of the hottest writers working today. Where to start? LG: To be fully transparent it wasn’t my idea. Category: Teen & Young Adult Social Issues | Teen & Young Adult Fiction Paperback | $9.99 Published by Ember Jul 30, 2019 | 224 Pages | 5-1/2 x 8-1/4 | Young Adult | ISBN 9781524766313. Unexpected things do happen, I’m sure. It’s “there aren’t diverse books because none of you [insert expletive/slur here] can write them.”  Which is BS. Our Mission Statement. He is the author of the Edgar Award finalists Fake ID and Endangered as well as the critically acclaimed Overturned, Spin, and The Last Last-Day-of-Summer. Jeff Kinney will be in conversation with Lamar, discussing his middle-grade fantasy novel THE LAST MIRROR ON THE LEFT, the sequel to his 2019 hit THE LAST LAST-DAY-OF-SUMMER. No. Besides those rare blockbusters, what makes it into the brick and mortars probably has more to do with store buyer’s preference and past trends. Like the Moon Landing, Global Warming, and Integration. So many things wrong here. You’re absolutely right. Join thriller authors Lamar Giles and Tiffany D. Jackson, and friends from We Need Diverse Books, to craft suspenseful short stories. I don’t quite remember how Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles (Quill Tree Books, 2020) came to be on my reading list (or at least where I found it), but I know WHY, because it ticks so many of my boxes: *YA *diverse book *characters grappling with religious and social issues *contemporary as heck *amazing voice. Read An Excerpt. Yes. 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 emphasis on the “uniformed”– I’m sure there are some very informed opponents out there, and it’s their right to be opposed. If this person read more outside the comfort zone, s/he might have a better idea of what racism means, OR understand hashtags aren’t beamed directly into the brain, thus forcing involuntary expansions of horizons. Besides that, they can also speak to teachers, librarians, and booksellers. Giles) is an author, speaker, and founding member of We Need Diverse Books, a non-profit dedicated to changing the face of publishing.His love of stories and storytelling began at an early age in his hometown of Hopewell, Virginia. Print; Add to Calendar; Subscribe; Share; Event Details. Their mission is to put more books featuring diverse characters into the hands of all children. Fake ID. THIS IS THE PROBLEM we’re trying to work on. (Hopefully the second of many). Amazon . IndieBound . I wish these guys many sleepless nights fretting over the issue. Hosted by Chesterfield County Public Library, Chesterfield County Virginia Government and 2 others. Read An Excerpt. More campaigns and initiatives, silly Twitter combatant. $9.99. [Spoiler alert] Had the conversation with this party continued, this is likely how it would’ve gone: sender makes some statement implying diverse books would be everywhere if they sold better. Again, we’ve got someone skating the thin line between ignorance and outright prejudice. We Need Diverse is a grassroots organization of children’s book lovers that advocates for essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people. #WeNeedDiverseBooks was a partial antidote. YEM: Finally, what advice would you give readers who are looking for other diverse books that they can relate to? | Summary: “An anthology featuring award-winning diverse authors about diverse characters. Lamar Giles is an author, speaker and founding member of We Need Diverse Books. Maybe it’s the children who only want to see heroes who look like them. See below: This bit of commentary came directly to me. He is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books and resides in Virginia. Because most will be able to point the reader toward something they’ll love. Clarity on the We Need Diverse Books campaign, Diversify Your Shelves (Part 3 of We Need Diverse Books). Lamar Giles (born November 14, 1979) is an American author of young adult novels and short stories. Protectors of the status quo, put on your Ignorance Armor and prepare yourselves. Lamar Giles is the author of Spin; Overturned, which was a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers; Fake ID, which was an Edgar Award finalist and a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers; and Endangered, which was also an Edgar Award finalist, as well as the editor of the anthology Fresh Ink.Lamar is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books. Friday, February 21, 2020. He's also a founding member of We Need Diverse Books, a nonprofit that advocates for children's books that reflect all kinds of kids. He is the author of the Edgar Award finalists Fake ID and Endangered as well as the critically acclaimed Overturned, Spin, and The Last Last-Day-of-Summer. Desciption of Lamar Giles and We Need Diverse Books company. May 06, 2014 | Category: Diversity. “Fresh Ink” offers stories from thirteen of the most accomplished YA authors on topics like gentrification, acceptance, untimely death, coming out, and poverty, each ranging in genre from contemporary realistic fiction to adventure and romance. Who are they talking about? 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM Meadowdale Library. --Paste Magazine Careful--you are holding fresh ink. There appears to be some confusion among uninformed opponents 1 of the We Need Diverse Books campaign. Meadowdale Meeting Room. Renowned author Lamar Giles talks about the importance of diversity in literature and the power of personal stories. pin. The campaign was STARTED BY PROFESSIONAL WRITERS AND PUBLISHERS. They should shut their pieholes until they’re in a position to publish? about 9 months ago. About We Need Diverse Books read by Lamar Giles. They haven’t. Clarity on the We Need Diverse Books campaign. He's an award-winning author of books for tweens and teens, including "Fake ID" and "Endangered," and most recently, "The Last Mirror on the Left." Bring Lamar to Your School/Event. There appears to be some confusion among uninformed opponents1 of the We Need Diverse Books campaign. Can a bookstore shelve every book that’s published? Lamar Giles writes for teens and adults. This map of the campaign’s worldwide reach must’ve been faked, then. Don’t you see, if the trend has been to ignore huge segments of the populace for decades, how can there be a reasonable expectation for a breakthrough diverse hit to drive the market our way when the damned books aren’t anywhere to be found? And it really is a worthy addition to the library of anyone who enjoys stellar fiction. There’s SOME truth to this. Strange you should bring it up when ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT THIS CAMPAIGN involves forcing anyone to read anything. As part of the Common Sense portion of our program, I must make the following announcement: The commentators in the above example think (incorrectly) that the campaign is about forcing writers to create and feature more diverse characters. His love of stories and storytelling began … Young Entertainment Mag: How did you first get involved in writing/publishing? Some folks just aren’t going to support this effort. Lamar Giles is an author, speaker, founding member of We Need Diverse Books (www.diversebooks.org), a non-profit dedicated to changing the face of publishing, and a faculty member in the Spalding University MFA program. Lamar Giles — a renowned author of children’s books and a co-founder of We Need Diverse Books — will be at the Slover Library. Publishing IS a business after all. The supporters represent an under served segment of the book buying public. Lamar Giles credits his love of reading to his mom who was always willing to buy him a book. Lamar Giles is an author and a founding member of We Need Diverse Books. There are many people–in both of those groups–who have and can write their own books. Let’s dissect this, though. This is about systemic neglect that has allowed statistical stagnation for years, and for reasons that don’t make total sense when we look at the make up of our country–or the world. So be careful who you challenge next time, as I’ll be less inclined to wield my 140 characters in such a polite manner. I went to a bookstore with 3 books by diverse authors on my list. He resides in … Our guest on Kojo for Kids is Lamar Giles. If I was a shopper looking for a quick, impulse buy…well, my options weren’t just limited, they were manipulated in a “pick me up, look how well stocked I am” kind of way. After graduating from Hopewell High School in 1997, he attended Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. As you can tell, the sender clearly didn’t click my name for they would’ve seen one of the diverse books (FAKE ID) I did write. And how did you gather all of these great authors? Moving on…. This person obviously interpreted the hashtag to mean “You, and others like you, should read and support more books about people who aren’t like you.” Now, as a general rule, that’s probably not a bad idea. He is the author of the acclaimed novels Fake ID, Endangered, Overturned, Spin, The Last Last-Day-of-Summer, Not So Pure and Simple, and The Last Mirror on the Left as well as numerous pieces of short fiction. That argument ignores a couple of big things…distribution and discoverability. Because that’s logical. The 20,000+ participants of the campaign who reached 43 MILLION people with over 150 MILLION impressions worldwide? This is just me. Visit him online at www.lamargiles.com. document.write(''); The classic Hardy Boys are back for a new adventure! I’m not at liberty to discuss what’s next for our merry band of marauders, but we’re not going on hiatus just yet. They’ll deconstruct the thriller genre in books and movies, then share writing exercises to create characters and scenes. Lamar Giles. Joseph Bruchac, Horn Book Honor Winner Lamar Giles, Edgar Award Nominee Mike Jung, We Need Diverse Books Founding Member Hena Khan, ALA-ALSC Notable Children’s Book Joseph Honor Recipient Juana Medina, Pura Belpré Award Winner Ellen Oh, Cofounder of We Need Diverse Books R. J. Palacio, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Linda Sue Park, Newbery Medal Winner and Anna Dobbin … Almost across the board, barring some sort of scheduling conflict, we’ve been able to get our very favorite writers on board. Or were they able to be as creative as they wanted? He is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books and resides in Virginia. Our Vision. From We Need Diverse Books, the organization behind Flying Lessons & Other Stories, comes another middle-grade short story collection–this one focused on exploring acts of bravery–featuring some of the best own-voices children’s authors, including R. J. Palacio (Wonder), Rita Williams-Garcia (One Crazy Summer), Linda Sue Park (A Long Walk to Water), and many more. I did see MULTIPLE copies and stand up displays for a bunch of other books that AREN’T diverse. Print; Add to Calendar; Subscribe; Share; Event Details. I am not going to go through every story, but I am going to talk about my favorites without giving too much away. He is the author of the acclaimed novels Fake ID, Endangered, Overturned, Spin, The Last Last-Day-of-Summer, Not So Pure and Simple, and The Last Mirror on the Left as well as numerous pieces of short fiction. Lamar Giles is the author of Spin; Overturned, which was a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers; Fake ID, which was an Edgar Award finalist and a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers; and Endangered, which was also an Edgar Award finalist, as well as the editor of the anthology Fresh Ink. Just sayin’. That’s just crazy talk. We Need Diverse Books™ is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and a grassroots organization of children’s book lovers that advocates essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people. actually existing, thus triggering protests for beloved mainstream writers not to succumb to Political Correctness. “These people should write their own books”. They should all write books because their opinions don’t matter unless they do? Why We Need Diverse Books with Lamar Giles. You may remember our event last year when Lamar was part of Kwame Alexander's VERSIFY bus tour, signing THE LAST Myself and the other organizers know this, and we’re taking great care to not let this become one of those “Remember that time when we…” kind of deals. Heaven forbid someone has an opinion–a want–related to a field they aren’t affiliated with professionally. So when the anthologies came up, it became a matter of seeing who was available and interested in contributing. Product Details. Of course I said yes. Actually, I can’t put this one on the campaign. The store had none of them on the shelves despite the books being recent releases. I started to learn about the publishing business, sold my first short story when I was 21, and haven’t looked back. We're delighted to welcome Lamar Giles back to An Unlikely Story, virtually this time! Barnes and Noble . … Read An Excerpt. BAM . Lamar Giles writes for teens and adults. Edited by the co-founder of We Need Diverse Books, Lamar Giles, the anthology includes topics on coming out, poverty, untimely death, transitioning and romance. He independently published his novels and short stories under the pen name L.R. Because I want readers to see themselves in this anthology and if that’s not the case, I want them to gain insight into people they may not have ever known through the thoughtful representation in our pages. Renowned author Lamar Giles talks about the importance of diversity in literature and the power of personal stories. He sold his first short story at age 21. By Erica J. Smith It’s the same confusion expressed each and every time anyone (usually an author, agent, or editor) points out a fact about diversity in the publishing industry (woefully low) and expresses a desire for more variety. "This awesome anthology came together with the fantastic organization We Need Diverse Books, and...combines an all-star cast of talent." Much like the We Need Diverse Books organization, the anthologies are the brainchild of We Need Diverse Books founder and CEO Ellen Oh. At least not this week. They reveal, at best, common internet contrarians who must be the voice of dissension. If decades of neglect tells us anything, it’s that people in favor of diverse authors and characters can’t sit back and wait for publishing’s gatekeepers to see solutions on their own. What do you think? Alicia (A.O.) It was a challenge, one I wasn’t supposed to be able to meet. 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. She asked if I’d like to edit a collection for a slightly older audience? Title: Fresh ink / edited by Lamar Giles, cofounder of We Need Diverse Books. There CAN’T be a population out there that actually desires more diverse authors and characters. YEM: How did this anthology come to be? Also, his fixation on Americans isn’t lost on me. Lamar is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books. We Need Diverse is a grassroots organization of children’s book lovers that advocates for essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people. Lamar Giles is an author and a founding member of We Need Diverse Books. YEM: How did you get the idea for this anthology series? Let’s be clear, these particular commentators are concerned with making white/cis/straight/able-bodied writers write about The Other. YEM: So were the authors given rules for their writing? Description: First edition. Listen to a sample from Fresh Ink. LG: They can always visit www.diversebooks.org for resources. I calmly addressed the sender’s criticism, and never got another message from the person. Lamar Giles: I’ve written since I was a kid, just for fun. That’s not the point! From We Need Diverse Books, it’s the second anthology . All it takes to rewrite the rules is a little fresh ink in this remarkable YA collection from thirteen of the most recognizable diverse authors writing today including Nicola Yoon, Jason Reynolds, Melissa de la Cruz, and many more, and published in partnership with We Need Diverse Books. She edited our initial anthology, “Flying Lessons,” which collected stories for a middle grade audience. Other than that, we let the writers go wild and write about whatever topics they found most appealing. We Need Diverse Books Today at 6:03 AM "I’m thankful that, as an adult, I have more diverse and well-develo ... ped Indigenous characters and heroes to celebrate." show more In fact, his name isn't really Nick Pearson. Hits out of nowhere. We want people to tweet, Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, blog, and post anywhere they can to help make the hashtag go viral. (Courtesy of the New American Oxford Dictionary), Now that that’s out of the way, let’s examine this statement: “No one should be forced to read.”. Godmasch enters Retrograde with her YA debut. But, such expressions by detractors are telling. The campaign is a rally reminding publishing’s gatekeepers that WE do, indeed, matter. Keep sippin’ the homemade shine, buddy. Lamar Giles. We Need Diverse Books™ is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and a grassroots organization of children’s book lovers that advocates essential changes in the publishing industry. He is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books and resides in Virginia with his wife. We do need diverse books, and Lamar Giles is here to help Norfolk school kids will read some of their work, too, at the Slover Library event Tuesday. https://theurbannews.com/.../2015/write-a-thon-features-author-lamar-giles var cachebuster=new Date().getTime(); YEM: What do you hope readers take away from this anthology series? Of course everyone who supports the campaign isn’t going to write their own books. When it was time to do the next collection, Ellen tapped me on the shoulder. Their reasoning: a campaign for more diverse books is about forcing readers to indulge in material that doesn’t interest them. Open for transcript, booklist, & more! (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); LG: There’s a lot of support for the We Need Diverse Books movement among the writing community so, from our very beginning, we’ve had many many writers express a desire to support in some way. Friday, February 21, 2020. Giles will discuss why seeing representations of all people is an essential element … | New York : Crown, 2018. Target ... Melissa de la Cruz, and many more, and published in partnership with We Need Diverse Books. Read An Excerpt. Meadowdale Meeting Room. Voters, stop wasting time at the polls and just run for President. 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM Meadowdale Library. Okay, first…Dude, look up “Racist.” You know what, I’ll do it for you: Racist (n): A person who believes a particular race is superior to another. Putting more books featuring diverse characters into the hands of all children. Our aim is to help produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people. Lamar “L.R.” Giles (also writes under, L.R. Lamar Giles writes for teens and adults across multiple genres, with work appearing on numerous Best Of lists each and every year. And they won’t. Sports fan, cut out your tongues now! By Lamar Giles. Nick Pearson is hiding in plain sight. LG: Recognition and insight. At worst, prejudicial dimwits who can’t FATHOM writers of different races/sexual orientation/levels of physical abilities/etc. We’ve been fortunate in that regard. Do books on the shelves have a better chance of selling than books that must be requested, and shipped within 3-5 business days? More activism is required. LG: No rules beyond keeping in mind you’re writing primarily for a teen reader. Now I have the privilege of writing fun stories for young readers and it’s the best gig ever. That “be the change” statement wasn’t about the sender becoming informed (something s/he could’ve done on their own), though. Then around my senior year of college I got serious about wanting to see my work in print. Ultimately, that led to some truly passionate original work. Visit him online at www.lamargiles.com. Look at me all “being the change.”, Yet another situation where a person just…can’t…grasp that there are indeed authors with the ability to write the kinds of books we’re lobbying for. Names: Giles, L. R. (Lamar R.), editor. An outcry for variety that can’t be ignored. Lamar Giles. Read An Excerpt. Example: This past Saturday was the #DiversifyYourShelves portion of the campaign. Friday, February 21, 2020 at 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST. Besides that, Lamar recently edited “Fresh Ink,” a YA anthology book featuring works by Melissa de la Cruz, Sara Farizan, Eric Gansworth, Malinda Lo, Jason Reynolds, Nicola Yoon, and more.