WRITER • PHOTOGRAPHER
PHILLIPPE DIEDERICH
WRITER • PHOTOGRAPHER
PHILLIPPE DIEDERICH
Phillippe Diederich
writer • photographer
A boy enlists the help of a third-rate luchador to help him find his parents who disappeared after Narcos take over the small town where they live in Southern Mexico.
2017 Best Fiction for Young Adults
Young Adult Library Services Association
2017 Best Young Adult Novel
Texas Institute of Letters
"Diederich, who grew up in Mexico City, brings firsthand experience as well as tremendous compassion to this poignant coming-of-age novel."
Booklist – Starred Review
"Diederich portrays Mexico with a stark intensity and raw emotional turmoil."
Publisher's Weekly – Starred Review
"This is a painful story, informed by a bleak reality, yet there is beauty in it, too."
The Wall Street Journal
Phillippe Diederich
From award-winning novelist, Phillippe Diederich comes a new middle-grade novel about a boy searching for answers in a funny, bittersweet story that addresses issues of trauma, racism, and friendship.
A Junior Library Guild Selection
Lalo, the son of Haitian and Mexican immigrants, has trouble remembering. As a matter of fact, his lack of memories affects just about every aspect of his life. When an old motorhome appears in the parking lot of the apartment building where he lives, he joins his neighbor in investigating the sinister person that lives inside. In the process, he discovers a vintage radio that might actually be a time machine.
Set during the first weeks of COVID lockdown, Lalo Lespérance Never Forgot is a funny, bittersweet story that touches on issues of trauma, racism, and friendship and what happens when we judge people we don't know.
2017 Best Fiction for Young Adults
Young Adult Library Services Association
Phillippe Diederich is the award-winning author of the acclaimed young adult novels, Playing for the Devil's Fire and Diamond Park. He is the son of Haitian exiles and grew up in Mexico City. Much of his writing and addresses themes of identity, multiculturalism, immigration, politics, and a search for home.
His fiction has received several awards including a PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship, an Elizabeth George Foundation Grant, a Florida Individual Artist Fellowship in Literature from the Florida Department of Cultural Affairs, and four Pushcart nominations. His essays and journalism have been published in The Dallas Morning News, Miami New Times, Cigar Aficionado, Sarasota Magazine, and others.
As a public speaker, he addresses issues of identity and multiculturalism, as well as literary topics such as finding voice and purpose in writing, and his personal journey on becoming a writer. He recently delivered a TEDx Talk on the importance of diversity in young people's literature.
He holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of South Florida and teaches creative writing in the MFA program at Goddard College.
A Booklist Best Book of 2022
When Flaco and his friends Tiny, Magaña, and Susi ride the bus from their Houston neighborhood to Diamond Park to buy a 1959 Impala convertible, the transaction gets complicated fast. Susi ends up with a knife in her hands, covered in blood and Tiny disappears to avoid ICE. Now, it's up to Flaco and Magaña to risk everything in order to set things right by crossing into Mexico and capturing a trafficker named Anaconda so they can clear Susi’s name.
“Tense, raw and gorgeously written, Diamond Park will resonate with any reader who, in a world filled with ample reason for pessimism, strives instead for optimism.”—Book Page, starred review
"An important title displaying the complexities of Latinx culture and of finding a sense of self set against the backdrop of trying to catch a murderer, this story will keep readers on the edge with danger lurking behind every corner."—SLJ, starred review
"Packs a punch while managing to wrest tough situations into the realm of hope."—Booklist, starred review
2017 Best Fiction for Young Adults
Young Adult Library Services Association
2017 Best Young Adult Novel
Texas Institute of Letters
Desperate for help after his parents disappear when Narcos take over the small town where they live in Southern Mexico, a boy finds hope when he joins forces with a second-rate, itinerant luchador.
"Diederich portrays Mexico with a stark intensity and raw emotional turmoil." Publisher's Weekly – Starred Review
"Diederich, who grew up in Mexico City, brings firsthand experience as well as tremendous compassion to this poignant coming-of-age novel."
Booklist – Starred Review
"This is a painful story, informed by a bleak reality, yet there is beauty in it, too." The Wall Street Journal
2015 L.A. Times List
23 Best Novels for Summer Reading
A Cuban-American travels to Havana to steal a secret recipe hoping it will save his failing restaurant in New York City, and in the process, he finds political contradictions, family secrets, love, and what it means to find home.
"Sofrito is a love letter to the deepest recesses of nostalgia’s heart." Cristina García, author of Dreaming in Cuban
Diederich's debut novel gives us an immersion complete with sights, sounds and — maybe most importantly — tastes.
The Tampa Bay Times
"A moveable feast full of folkloric flavors, comical rhythms and magic." Ernesto Quiñones, author of Bodega Dreams
"Sofrito has the sweaty seduction of Havana's streets and the warm spirit of its food." Mark Kurlansky, author of Salt: A World History