Jewell Parker Rhodes (born 1954 in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

) is an American bestselling

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and educator. She is the author of several books for children including the ''

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'' bestsellers ''Black Brother, Black Brother'' and ''

Ghost Boys Ghost Boys is a 2018 middle-grade novel by Jewell Parker Rhodes. Set in Chicago, the novel follows the story of Jerome, a 12-year-old black boy who is shot and killed by a white police officer before coming back as a ghost. Emmett Till, a black ...

,'' which has garnered over 50 awards and honors including The Walter Award, the Indies Choice/EB White Read-Aloud Award, and the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award for Older Readers. Rhodes is also the author of ''Paradise on Fire'' (winner of the Green Earth Book Award), ''Towers Falling'' and the celebrated Louisiana Girls Trilogy, which includes ''Ninth Ward'', winner of a Coretta Scott King Honor Award, ''Sugar,'' and ''Bayou Magic.'' Her novel ''Bayou Magic'' is featured in the third season of Apple TV+'s Emmy award-winning series Ghostwriter. Her latest novel for young readers, ''Treasure Island: Runaway Gold,'' releases in October 2023. Rhodes has written six adult novels: ''Voodoo Dreams, Magic City, Douglass’ Women, Season, Moon'', and ''Hurricane'', as well as the memoir ''Porch Stories: A Grandmother’s Guide to Happiness'', and two writing guides: ''Free Within Ourselves: Fiction Lessons for Black Authors'' and ''The African American Guide to Writing and Publishing Non-Fiction''. A reissue of ''Magic City'', a novel about the 1921

Tulsa Race Massacre The Tulsa race massacre, also known as the Tulsa race riot or the Black Wall Street massacre, was a two-day-long massacre that took place between May 31 – June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as deput ...

, was released in 2021 in recognition of the 100th anniversary. Jewell is a regular speaker at colleges and conferences. The driving force behind all of Jewell’s work is to inspire social justice, equity, and environmental stewardship. Jewell is the Founding Artistic Director of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing and Narrative Studies Professor and Virginia G. Piper Endowed Chair at Arizona State University. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Carnegie-Mellon University.

Early life

Rhodes was born and raised in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, a largely

African-American neighborhood African-American neighborhoods or black neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. Generally, an African American neighborhood is one where the majority of the people who live there are African American. ...

on the North Side of Pittsburgh. As a child, she was a voracious reader. She began college as a drama major, but switched to writing when she discovered African-American literature for the first time. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Drama Criticism, a Master of Arts in English, and a Doctor of Arts in English (Creative Writing) from

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

Writing

Her work has been published in China, Korea, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Turkey, and the United Kingdom and reproduced in audio and for NPR's "Selected Shorts." She has been a featured speaker at the Runnymede International Literary Festival (University of London-Royal Holloway), Santa Barbara Writers Conference, Creative Nonfiction Writers Conference and Warwick University, among others. Her recent fiction and essays have been anthologized in ''Rise Up Singing: Black Women Writers on Motherhood'' (ed., Berry), ''In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction'' (ed. Gutkind), ''Gumbo'' (ed., Golden and Harris), and ''Children of the Night: Best Short Stories By Black Writers'' (ed., Naylor), along with others. Many of Rhodes's middle grade novels focus on issues surrounding

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

within black communities throughout history and current events with themes of community. In particular, ''Ghost Boys'', focuses on the racial injustices that pertain to the past and present with the main character experiencing

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...

and connecting with past . Rhodes's work promotes all people within a community to work together with collaborative, respectful, and empathetic manner, thus demonstrating how young readers start to self-reflect, seek information, and take action.

Bibliography

Middle Grade novels

* ''Ninth Ward'' (2010) * ''Sugar'' (2014) * ''Bayou Magic'' (2015) * ''Towers Falling'' (2016) * ''

'' (2018) * ''Black Brother, Black Brother'' (2020) * ''Paradise on Fire'' (2021) * ''Los Chicos Fantasmas (Ghost Boys Spanish Edition)'' (2022) * ''Treasure Island: Runaway Gold'' (2023)

Adult novels

* ''Voodoo Dreams'' (1993) * ''Magic City'' (1997) * ''Douglass' Women'' (2002) * ''Season'' (Formerly ''Voodoo Season'') (2005) * ''Moon'' (Formerly ''Yellow Moon'') (2008) * ''Hurricane'' (2011)

Nonfiction

* ''Free Within Ourselves: Fiction Lessons for Black Authors'' (1999) * ''The African American Guide to Writing and Publishing Non-Fiction'' (2001) * ''Porch Stories: A Grandmother's Guide to Happiness'' (2006)

Awards and honors

* 2003:

American Book Award The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...

(''Douglass' Women'') * 2003: Black Caucus of the American Library Award for Fiction (''Douglass' Women'') * 2003:

PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award The PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award is for U.S. multicultural writers, to "promote works of excellence by writers of all cultural and racial backgrounds and to educate both the public and the media as to the nature of multicultural work. ...

* 2010: Parents' Choice Foundation Gold Award (''Ninth Ward'') * 2011: Coretta Scott King Honor Award (''Ninth Ward'') * 2014:

Jane Addams Children's Book Award The Jane Addams Children's Book Award is given annually to a children's book published the preceding year that advances the causes of peace and social equality. The awards have been presented annually since 1953. They were previously given joint ...

(''Sugar'') * 2018: E.B. White Read Aloud Award (''Ghost Boys'') * 2018: NAIBA Book of the Year (''Ghost Boys'') * 2019: Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature in the Young Readers category (''Ghost Boys'') * 2020: New England Book Award, Top 10 Kids' Indie Next Pick (''Black Brother, Black, Brother'') * 2021: Finalist, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Youth/Teens (''Black Brother, Black, Brother'') * 2022: Green Earth Book Award (''Paradise on Fire'') * 2023: Octavia E. Butler Award

References

External links

Jewell Parker Rhodes profile

Jewell Parker Rhodes homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Jewell Parker Writers from Pittsburgh 1954 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American women novelists Arizona State University faculty Carnegie Mellon University alumni African-American women writers African-American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American Book Award winners Novelists from Pennsylvania Novelists from Arizona