James Acker

Acker studied screenwriting and playwriting at Drexel and won the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Nicholl Fellowship for a script called Sadboi before he wrote fiction. The Long Run (Inkyard Press, February 2023) was his first novel. Sebastian Villeda, Bash the Flash, is the fastest sprinter in South Jersey and tired of being it; his mother has died, his father is long gone, his stepfather has no idea what to do with him. Sandro Miceli throws in field events and is the middle child of a loud Italian American household. The two collide over a school track season. The book was named a Stonewall Honor Book for young adult literature in 2024, and Teenage Dirtbags followed that April. Acker grew up in New Jersey, and the novel wears that on its sleeve.