Lamar Giles is the author of the 2015 Edgar Award Nominee “Fake ID,” among other thrillers. His books have been rapidly read and thoroughly enjoyed by many students here at WAHS. On Friday, March 18th, Giles dropped into the library to talk with students about his latest book: Endangered.

Book talks usually consist of an author babbling about their newest release, followed by a question and answer session that seems to last for hours. Giles, however took a different approach to the traditional “Book Talk.” He started off reminiscing about his childhood, emphasizing the fact that he grew up in a rough neighborhood. His mother always bought him books when he was younger. He loved to read, it made him forget about the aggressive world around him. In elementary school, Giles entered a young authors contest. He wrote his own short story called, “Giant Dinosaur Inside” about a boy who looks through his breakfast cereal box for the toy at the bottom, only to unleash a Godzilla-like reptile into the city. This was when he realized his love for books, and the process of writing them.

  Giles displayed pictures of himself in his mid-teens, he stared at them, telling us, “This wasn’t me, I might’ve gotten more girls and been invited to more parties, but I wasn’t happy.” Although Giles was becoming this different person, he was still reading and enjoying books. “It’s funny because I actually felt embarrassed to tell my friends I liked to read.” He said with a grin. As he entered college, Giles realized that he could be himself. He surrounded himself with friends that also enjoyed reading, and he was finally happy with himself.

He had been writing novels for a while, but his work kept getting rejected. Finally, at age 31, “Whispertown,” a murder mystery he’d been working on was published. He’s been writing ever since then and eventually scored contacts with major publishers.

Giles wrapped up his book talk with a simple message, “BE YOURSELF!” He admitted that it sounded cliché, but explained that it’s a valuable lesson that we should all follow.