A few weekends ago Kat and I had the opportunity to go the launch party for Lamar Giles’s new novel Spin. Giles writes mystery/thriller YA fiction featuring black teens. He is an Edgar Award Finalist, fellow Virginian and most will know him as one of the We Need Diverse Book co-founders. I hadn’t even known about the event and I was excited to go because I’d just finished Black Enough and I had questions — Although now I am seriously wondering how long it will take to get each author in the anthology to sign the book. I also picked up a copy of Fresh Ink because YA Anthologies are a thing I want more of and Giles edited the collection.
The event was hosted by Chop Suey books and held at Hai Y’all, a local Japanese style restaurant. There was a live DJ, tasty appetizers and an open, positive and upbeat atmosphere. Giles was very personable we talked about fantasy novels and that time he met Stephen King.
Kat and I sat for a while and chatted with the co-founder of Black Men Read, a non-profit that gets young black men reading and talking about books. This group is very impressive and looks to be doing amazing things.
Spin is a mystery/thriller about a Kya, a teen sleuth who teams up with her sworn enemy to solve the mysterious death of the famous DJ, ParSec, who she used to call her best friend. #ParSecNation
