Rodman Philbrick (born January 22, 1951) is an American writer of novels for adults and children. He has written popular children's books such as ''
Freak the Mighty
''Freak the Mighty'' is a young adult novel by Rodman Philbrick. Published in 1993, it was followed by the novel ''Max the Mighty'' in 1998. The primary characters are friends Maxwell Kane, a large, developmentally disabled, but kind-hearted ...
'', Max the Mighty, The Last Book on Earth and has written other mysteries and thrillers for adults.
Maine
Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...
and
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...
. He attended Portsmouth High School and he also attended University of New Hampshire for a few semesters.
Career
Rodman Philbrick has written many mysteries and thrillers for adults, including ''Brothers & Sinners'', ''Coffins'', and the ''T. D. Stash'' detective series, set in Key West, Florida, as well as a number of mysteries under the pen name William R. Dantz. Writing as Chris Jordan, Philbrick has published novels in the thriller genre: ''Taken'', ''Trapped'', and ''Torn'', featuring former FBI special agent Randall Shane, who investigates the disappearance of missing children.
Two of his most popular children's books are ''
Freak the Mighty
''Freak the Mighty'' is a young adult novel by Rodman Philbrick. Published in 1993, it was followed by the novel ''Max the Mighty'' in 1998. The primary characters are friends Maxwell Kane, a large, developmentally disabled, but kind-hearted ...
'' and its sequel, ''
Max the Mighty
''Max the Mighty'' is a young adult novel by Rodman Philbrick. Published in 1998, it is the sequel to ''Freak the Mighty
''Freak the Mighty'' is a young adult novel by Rodman Philbrick. Published in 1993, it was followed by the novel '' Max ...
''. ''Freak the Mighty'' was later adapted into a movie titled ''
The Mighty
''The Mighty'' is a 1998 American coming of age buddy comedy-drama film directed by Peter Chelsom and written by Charles Leavitt. Based on the book ''Freak the Mighty'' by Rodman Philbrick, the film stars Sharon Stone, Gena Rowlands, Gil ...
''. He wrote the
cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian Futurism, futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of low-life, lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial in ...
,
dystopian novel
Utopian and dystopian fiction are genres of speculative fiction that explore social and political structures. Utopian fiction portrays a setting that agrees with the author's ethos, having various attributes of another reality intended to appeal t ...
''
The Last Book in the Universe
''The Last Book in the Universe'' is a 2000 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by Rodman Philbrick. Set in a cyberpunk dystopia, its protagonist and narrator is a teenage boy named Spaz who has epilepsy.
Plot summary
The story is set in ...
'' and the
science fantasy
Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scienti ...
novel '' REM World''. Other works for young readers include ''The Young Man and the Sea'', which is dedicated to his nieces Annie and Molly, and ''The Fire Pony'', about two brothers on the run in the American West. ''The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg'', set in the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...
, was named a
Newbery Honor Book
The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished con ...
in 2010. A stage version of ''The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg '' debuted at the
Kennedy Center
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...
in Washington, D.C., in 2012. He and Lynn Harnett collaborated on scary books for young readers, including ''The House on Cherry Street'', ''The Werewolf Chronicles'', and ''Visitors'', three trilogies published by Scholastic, Inc.
In December 2011, writing as Chris Jordan, Philbrick published ''Measure of Darkness'', set in Boston. According to the author, Randall Shane enters the story in the first chapter, when he is accused of murdering a client. ''Zane and The Hurricane: A Story of Katrina'', an adventure set in
pen name
A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen na ...
s W. R. Philbrick, William R. Dantz, and Chris Jordan.
Personal life
Philbrick and Lynn Harnett were married from 1980 until her death, in 2012. Before Philbrick began writing full-time, he worked as a
longshoreman
A stevedore (), also called a longshoreman, a docker or a dockworker, is a waterfront manual laborer who is involved in loading and unloading ships, trucks, trains or airplanes.
After the shipping container revolution of the 1960s, the number o ...
and boat builder.
Awards
Maine Katahdin Award 2020
South Carolina Junior Book Award 2021-2022
'Wildfire', William Allen White Award 2022 (Kansas)
Bibliography
''Freak The Mighty''
*''
Freak the Mighty
''Freak the Mighty'' is a young adult novel by Rodman Philbrick. Published in 1993, it was followed by the novel ''Max the Mighty'' in 1998. The primary characters are friends Maxwell Kane, a large, developmentally disabled, but kind-hearted ...
''
*''
Max the Mighty
''Max the Mighty'' is a young adult novel by Rodman Philbrick. Published in 1998, it is the sequel to ''Freak the Mighty
''Freak the Mighty'' is a young adult novel by Rodman Philbrick. Published in 1993, it was followed by the novel '' Max ...
''
Other works
*
The Last Book in the Universe
''The Last Book in the Universe'' is a 2000 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by Rodman Philbrick. Set in a cyberpunk dystopia, its protagonist and narrator is a teenage boy named Spaz who has epilepsy.
Plot summary
The story is set in ...
Lobster Boy
Grady Franklin Stiles Jr. (June 26, 1937 – November 29, 1992) was an American freak show performer and murderer. His deformity was the genetic condition ectrodactyly, in which the fingers and toes are fused together to form claw-like extremities. ...
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
''The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg'' is a historical novel by Rodman Philbrick, author of ''Freak the Mighty''. Set during the American Civil War, it follows the adventures of a boy who is an inveterate teller of tall tales on his ...
(
Newbery Honor Book
The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished con ...
The Big Dark
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...
* ALAN Review, winter, 1999; winter, 2001, Rodman Philbrick, "Listening to Kids in America," pp. 13–16.
* Booklist, December 15, 1993, Stephanie Zvirin, review of
* Freak the Mighty, p. 748;
* June 1, 1998, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Max the Mighty, pp. 1749–1750;
* December 15, 1998, Ilene Cooper, review of Freak the Mighty, p. 751;
* May 1, 2000, review of REM World: Where Nothing Is Real and Everything Is about to Disappear, p. 1670;
* November 15, 2019, Debbie Farton, review of The Last Book in the Universe, p. 636;
* August, 2001, Anna Rich, review of The Last Book in the Universe, p. 2142;
* January 1, 2002, Kay Weisman, review of The Journal of Douglas Alan Deeds: The Bonner Farty TYpAR, p. 859;
* March 15, 2005, Fatricia Austin, review of The Young Man and the Sea, p. 1313.
* Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, JGAYanuary, 1994
* Deborah Stevenson, review of Freak the SHighty, p. 165
* July–August, 1996, p. 383
* April, 1998, Deborah Stevenson, review of Max the Mighty, p. 291
* March, 2004, Elizabeth Bush, review of The Young Man and the Sea, p. 291.
* Childhood Education, winter, 2000, Barbara F. Backer, review of REM World, p. 109.
* Horn Book, January–February, 1994, Nancy Vasilakis, review of Freak the Mighty, p. 74
* July–August, 1996, Martha V. Parravano, review of The Fire Pony, p. 464
* July–August, 1998, Nancy Vasilakis, review of Max the Mighty, p. 495. review of Freak the Mighty, p. 165
* March–April, 2004,
Peter D. Sieruta
Peter D. Sieruta (October 13, 1958 – May 25, 2012) was an American writer and book critic. He was best known for his reviews for ''The Horn Book Magazine'', his short story collection '' Heartbeats and Other Stories'', and his blog, Collectin ...
, review of The Young Man and the Sea, p. 187.
* Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, March, 2004, James Blasingame, interview with Philbrick, p. 518.
* Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 1998, review of Max the Mighty, p. 272
* January 15, 2004, review of The Young Man and the Sea, p. 87.
* Kliatt, March, 1999, review of Abduction, p. 26
* May, 2002, Paula Rohrlick, review of The Last Book in the Universe, p. 29
* January, 2004, Claire Rosser, review of The Young Man and the Sea, p. 12.
* New Yorker, December 13, 1993, pp. 115–116.
* Publishers Weekly, January 26, 1998, review of Max the Mighty, p. 91
* March 27, 2000, review of REM World, p. 81
* November 27, 2000, review of The Last Book in the Universe, p. 77
* January 14, 2002, review of Coffins, p. 46
* February 16, 2004, review of The Young Man and the Sea, p. 173.
* School Library Journal, December, 1993, Libby K. White, review of Freak the Mighty, p. 137
* September, 1996, Christina Linz, review of The Fire Pony, p. 206
* April, 1998, Marilyn Payne Phillips, review of Max the Mighty, p. 136
* July, 1998, Brian E. Wilson, review of Freak the Mighty, p. 56
* May, 2000, Nina Lindsay, review of REM World, p. 175
* November, 2000, Susan L. Rogers, review of The Last Book in the Universe, p. 160
* July, 2001, Louise L. Sherman, review of The Last Book in the Universe, p. 60
* December, 2001, Lana Miles, review of The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds, p. 142
* February, 2004, Jeffrey Hastings, review of The Young Man and the Sea, p. 152
* October, 2004, review of The Young Man and the Sea, p. 54
* April, 2005, Larry Cooperman, review of The Young Man and the Sea, p. 76.
*
Voice of Youth Advocates
''Voice of Youth Advocates'' (''VOYA'') is a bimonthly magazine that provides book reviews and information for librarians with a focus on young adult materials.
History and profile
''VOYA'' was established in 1978. The founders are Dorothy Brod ...
, April, 1994, p. 30; October, 1996, p. 212; June, 1998, p. 124.
https://rodmanphilbrick.com/
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...