On Thursday, November 2, Lamar Giles came to visit students at WRHS. This was in the library from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Students were excused from their advisory and part of the 4th hour to go listen to him. This is a very great way for students who aspire to write novels to see what the process is actually like from someone who has truly been through it.

Lamar Giles is the author of the novels The Getaway, The Last Last-Day-of-Summer, and many other young adult books. He has also written for brands like DC Comics, Star Wars, and National Geographic. He is also a founding member of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books organization. This non-profit organization encourages changes within the publishing industry to represent all young kids. This includes LGBTQIA, Native, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and more. 

This was a great opportunity to experience diversity in writing first-hand. Giles talked about his experience of isolation in the writing community, as there weren’t many authors who looked like him. One day, he got the opportunity to write a short story for a book full of diverse authors and this was what kicked off his career. This was a great way for WRHS students to learn about diversity and inclusion within the writing community.