Lamar Giles writes for teens and adults across multiple genres, with work appearing on numerous Best Of lists each and every year. 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. He is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books and resides in Virginia with his wife. On this podcast, Lamar chats in detail about his grandparents (specifically) his grandfather. He talks about fixing washing machines, watching old TV shows, and reading to him at an early age. Lamar also shares, how a 7-year-old kid gets a 55-year-old best friend. Halfway through this podcast, Lamar talks about the Black community and how we were often influenced to play sports, and follow more traditional paths in education. He speaks about the "what if's" we focused on literacy and arts more. "What if" those kids had more opportunities to see these as a way of life? Twitter: https://twitter.com/LRGiles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lamargiles Website: https://www.lamargiles.com/