Jewell Parker Rhodes

Jewell Parker Rhodes (born 1954 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American bestselling novelist and educator.

She is the author of several books for children including the New York Times bestsellers Black Brother, Black Brother and Ghost Boys, 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 Soul Step, Treasure Island: Runaway Gold, Paradise on Fire, Towers Falling and the celebrated Louisiana Girls Trilogy, which includes Ninth Ward, winner of the Coretta Scott King Honor Award, Sugar, and Bayou Magic. Her most recent novel for young readers, Will's Race for Home, is an Indies Next Pick, an Amazon Editors' Pick, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and has garnered three starred reviews.

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, was released in 2021 in recognition of the 100th anniversary. A reissue of Douglass' Women will release in Fall 2026.

Rhodes 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.

Rhodes 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.