Most Popular Books by Jewell Parker Rhodes

A heartbreaking and powerful story about a black boy killed by a police officer, drawing connections through history, from award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes. Only the living can make the world better. Live and make it better. Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation that''s been unleashed on his family and community in the wake of what they see as an unjust and brutal killing. Soon Jerome meets another ghost: Emmett Till, a boy from a very different time but similar circumstances. Emmett helps Jerome process what has happened, on a journey towards recognizing how historical racism may have led to the events that ended his life. Jerome also meets Sarah, the daughter of the police officer, who grapples with her father''s actions. Once again Jewell Parker Rhodes deftly weaves historical and socio-political layers into a gripping and poignant story about how children and families face the complexities of today''s world, and how one boy grows to understand American blackness in the aftermath of his own death.

A magical coming-of-age story from Coretta Scott King honor author Jewell Parker Rhodes, rich with Southern folklore, friendship, family, fireflies and mermaids– plus an environmental twist. It''s city-girl Maddy''s first summer in the bayou, and she just falls in love with her new surroundings– the glimmering fireflies, the glorious landscape, and something else, deep within the water, that only she can see. Could it be a mermaid? As her grandmother shares wisdom about sayings and signs, Maddy realizes she may be the only sibling to carry on her family''s magical legacy. And when a disastrous oil leak threatens the bayou, she knows she may also be the only one who can help. But does she have what it takes to be a hero? A tale rich with folk magic, set in the wake of the Gulf oil spill, Bayou Magic celebrates hope and the magic within– and captures the wonder of life in the Deep South.

From award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes comes a powerful novel set fifteen years after the 9/11 attacks in a classroom of students who cannot remember the event but live through the aftermath of its cultural shift. When her fifth-grade teacher hints that a series of lessons about home and community will culminate with one big answer about two tall towers once visible outside their classroom window, Dèja can''t help but feel confused. She sets off on a journey of discovery, with new friends Ben and Sabeen by her side. But just as she gets closer to answering big questions about who she is, what America means, and how communities can grow (and heal), she uncovers new questions, too. Like, why does Pop get so angry when she brings up anything about the towers? Award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes tells a powerful story about young people who weren''t alive to witness this defining moment in history, but begin to realize how much it colors their every day.

A jazzman, a wharf worker, a prostitute, all murdered. Wrists punctured, their bodies impossibly drained of blood. What connects them? Why are they rising as ghosts? Marie Levant, the great-great granddaughter of the Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveau, knows better than anyone New Orleans''s brutal past -- the legacy of slavery, poverty, racism, and sexism -- and as a doctor at Charity Hospital''s ER, she treats its current victims. When she sleeps, she dreams of blood. Rain, never ending. The river is rising and the yellow moon warns of an ancient evil -- an African vampire -- wazimamoto -- a spirit created by colonial oppression. The struggle becomes personal, as the wazimamoto is intent on destroying her and all the Laveau descendants. Marie fights to protect her daughter, lover, and herself from the wazimamoto''s seductive assault on both body and spirit. Echoing with the heartache and triumph of the African-American experience, the soulful rhythms of jazz, and the horrors of racial oppression, Yellow Moon gives us an unforgettable heroine -- sexy, vulnerable, and mysterious -- in Marie Levant, while it powerfully evokes a city on the brink of catastrophe. Yellow Moon is part two of the New Orleans trilogy that began with Voodoo Season -- magical realist fiction that takes the legend of the voodoo priestess Marie Laveau, as imagined by Jewell Parker Rhodes in the bestselling Voodoo Dreams, into the present day.

From award-winning and bestselling author Jewell Parker Rhodes comes a powerful coming-of-age survival tale exploring issues of race, class, and climate change.u200b Addy is haunted by the tragic fire that killed her parents, leaving her to be raised by her grandmother. Years later, Addy’s grandmother has enrolled her in a summer wilderness program. There, Addy joins five other Black city kids—each with their own troubles—to spend a summer out west. Deep in the forest the kids learn new (and to them) strange skills: camping, hiking, rock climbing, and how to start and safely put out campfires. Most important, they learn to depend upon each other for companionship and survival. But then comes a devastating forest fire… Addy is face-to-face with her destiny and haunting past. Developing her courage and resiliency against the raging fire, it’s up to Addy to lead her friends to safety. Not all are saved. But remembering her origins and grandmother’s teachings, she’s able to use street smarts, wilderness skills, and her spiritual intuition to survive. BCALA 2021 Best of the Best Book A Cadmus Children’s Fiction Award for the Green Earth Book Award winner

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection! From award-winning and bestselling author, Jewell Parker Rhodes comes a powerful coming-of-age story about two brothers, one who presents as white, the other as black, and the complex ways in which they are forced to navigate the world, all while training for a fencing competition. Framed. Bullied. Disliked. But I know I can still be the best. Sometimes, 12-year-old Donte wishes he were invisible. As one of the few black boys at Middlefield Prep, most of the students don''t look like him. They don''t like him either. Dubbing him "Black Brother," Donte''s teachers and classmates make it clear they wish he were more like his lighter-skinned brother, Trey. When he''s bullied and framed by the captain of the fencing team, "King" Alan, he''s suspended from school and arrested. Terrified, searching for a place where he belongs, Donte joins a local youth center and meets former Olympic fencer Arden Jones. With Arden''s help, he begins training as a competitive fencer, setting his sights on taking down the fencing team captain, no matter what. As Donte hones his fencing skills and grows closer to achieving his goal, he learns the fight for justice is far from over. Now Donte must confront his bullies, racism, and the corrupt systems of power that led to his arrest. Powerful and emotionally gripping, Black Brother, Black Brother is a careful examination of the school-to-prison pipeline and follows one boy''s fight against racism and his empowering path to finding his voice.

From New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes comes a heartbreaking and uplifting tale of survival in the face of Hurricane Katrina. Twelve-year-old Lanesha lives in a tight-knit community in New Orleans'' Ninth Ward. She doesn''t have a fancy house like her uptown family or lots of friends like the other kids on her street. But what she does have is Mama Ya-Ya, her fiercely loving caretaker, wise in the ways of the world and able to predict the future. So when Mama Ya-Ya''s visions show a powerful hurricane--Katrina--fast approaching, it''s up to Lanesha to call upon the hope and strength Mama Ya-Ya has given her to help them both survive the storm. From the New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Boys and Towers Falling, Ninth Ward is a deeply emotional story about transformation and a celebration of resilience, friendship, and family--as only love can define it.

In college and graduate school, Jewell Parker Rhodes never encountered a single reading assignment or exercise that featured a person of color. Now she has made it her mission to rectify the situation, gathering advice and inspiring tips tailored for African Americans seeking to express their life experiences. Comprehensive and totally energizing, the African American Guide to Writing and Publishing Nonfiction bursts with supportive topics such as: ·Finding your voice ·Getting to know your literary ancestors ·Overcoming a bruised ego and finding the determination to pursue your dreams ·Gathering material and conducting research ·Tapping sweet, bittersweet, and joyful memories ·Knowing when to keep revising, and when to let go The guide also features unforgettable excerpts from luminaries such as Maya Angelou, Brent Staples, Houston Baker, and pointers from bestselling African American authors Patrice Gaines, E. Lynn Harris, James McBride, John Hope Franklin, Pearl Cleage, Edwidge Danticat, and many others. It is a uniquely nurturing and informative touchstone for affirming, bearing witness, leaving a legacy, and celebrating the remarkable journey of the self.

Marie Levant begins her medical residency in New Orleans''s Charity Hospital in the wake of culture shock and increasingly violent dreams, which give way to an awareness of her ancestral heritage as an African and a voodoo queen.

"A compelling page-turner that will keep readers hoping against hope that everything will somehow, magically, turn out for the best." — Atlanta Journal-Constitution With a new Afterword from the author reflecting on the 100th anniversary of one of the most heinous tragedies in American history—the 1921 burning of Greenwood, an affluent black section of Tulsa, Oklahoma, known as the "Negro Wall Street"—Jewell Parker Rhodes’ powerful and unforgettable novel of racism, vigilantism, and injustice, weaves history, mysticism, and murder into a harrowing tale of dreams and violence gone awry. Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1921. A white woman and a black man are alone in an elevator. Suddenly, the woman screams, the man flees, and the chase to capture and lynch him begins. When Joe Samuels, a young Black man with dreams of becoming the next Houdini, is accused of rape, he must perform his greatest escape by eluding a bloodthirsty mob. Meanwhile, Mary Keane, the white, motherless daughter of a farmer who wants to marry her off to the farmhand who viciously raped her, must find the courage to help exonerate the man she accused with her panicked cry. Magic City evokes one of the darkest chapters of twentieth century, Jim Crow America, painting an intimate portrait of the heroic but doomed stand that pitted the National Guard against a small band of black men determined to defend the prosperous town they had built.

From Jewell Parker Rhodes, the author of Towers Falling and Ninth Ward (a Coretta Scott King Honor Book and a Today show Al''s Book Club for Kids pick) comes a tale of a strong, spirited young girl who rises beyond her circumstances and inspires others to work toward a brighter future. Ten-year-old Sugar lives on the River Road sugar plantation along the banks of the Mississippi. Slavery is over, but laboring in the fields all day doesn''t make her feel very free. Thankfully, Sugar has a knack for finding her own fun, especially when she joins forces with forbidden friend Billy, the white plantation owner''s son. Sugar has always yearned to learn more about the world, and she sees her chance when Chinese workers are brought in to help harvest the cane. The older River Road folks feel threatened, but Sugar is fascinated. As she befriends young Beau and elder Master Liu, they introduce her to the traditions of their culture, and she, in turn, shares the ways of plantation life. Sugar soon realizes that she must be the one to bridge the cultural gap and bring the community together. Here is a story of unlikely friendships and how they can change our lives forever.

A second installment of a trilogy that began with Voodoo Season finds the doctor granddaughter of a legendary voodoo queen struggling with an increasing number of violence victims in her New Orleans hospital, a situation that is complicated by her nightmares about an African vampire.

A Bird by Bird for the African-American market--A top-notch writer''s guide filled with practical guidance, essays, and journal exercises for the African-American writer including advice from E.Lynn Harris, Charles Johnson, and Yolanda Joe. In her introduction, Jewell Parker Rhodes writes: "Never (in four years of college or five years of graduate school) was I assigned an exercise or given a story example that included a person of color...While the educational system and the publishing world have become progressively more welcoming of African-American authors, there is still little attention to educating, supporting, and sustaining the writing process of African-American authors. Free Within Ourselves is a solid first step--it is the book I wished I had when I started out as a writer. It is meant to be a song of encouragement for African-American artisits and visionaries. Free Within Ourselves is a step-by-step introduction to fictional technique, exploring story ideas, and charting one''s progress, as well as a resource guide for publishing fiction." For the legions of people who have a novel stuck in their word processors, help is finally on the way! Free Within Ourselves is an excellent guide to all the elements necessary to crafting fiction: character development, point of view, plot, atmosphere, dialogue, diction, sentence variety, and revision. Writing techniques are taught using exercises, journaling, story examples, and analyses of famous writing fragments, as well as several complete stories (including those of James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, and Edwidge Dandicat, among others). The book is further enhanced by inspirational advice from successful contemporary black writers (such as Bebe Moore Campbell, Rita Dove, Henry Louis Gates, John Edgar Wideman, and others), a bibliography, and a guide to workshops, journals, magazines, contests, and fellowships supportive of black arts.

★ "Rhodes deftly captures a unique u00adaspect of this historical event, with a perspective that is u00adoften under-represented in historical u00adfiction. A poignant and honest look at the trials of racism that defined the u00adhistoric land rush; a must-buy." -School Library Journal, starred review Bestselling and award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes goes West in this thrilling adventure story about a son and his father who set out to win land during the Oklahoma Land Rush–if they can survive the journey. It’s 1889, barely twenty-five years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and a young Black family is tired of working on land they don’t get to own. So when Will and his father hear about an upcoming land rush, they set out on a journey from Texas to Oklahoma, racing thousands of others to the place where land is free—if they can get to it fast enough. But the journey isn’t easy—the terrain is rough, the bandits are brutal, and every interaction carries a heavy undercurrent of danger. And then there’s the stranger they encounter and befriend: a mysterious soldier named Caesar, whose Union emblem brings more attention—and more trouble—than any of them need. All three are propelled by the promise of something long denied to them: freedom, land ownership, and a place to call home—but is a strong will enough to get them there?

In the stunning conclusion to award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes’s mystery trilogy begun in Voodoo Dreams and Moon, Dr. Marie Lavant, descendent of Voodoo queen Marie Laveau, must confront a murderous evil in New Orleans. Dr. Marie Levant aka Leveau, great-great granddaughter of Marie Laveau, has achieved fame and notoriety for saving New Orleans from the wrath of a vampire. Now she’s taking a break from the city, heading up the highway to DeLaire. She doesn’t know this backwater town, but an elderly woman called Nana has been expecting Marie to arrive and save her and others in this God-forsaken place from sickness and death. Yet all of Marie’s powers can’t bring life back to the corpses she finds in a house by the road. Nor can she force those who know how they died to say so or to confess. Were the crimes committed by shape-shifters, vampires, and ghosts—or by living men and women? And even as Marie searches for answers, a hurricane threatens to break the levees of Louisiana and cause unimaginable destruction. Jewell Parker Rhodes blends magic and man-made evil and weaves New Orleans’s past and present into a spine-tingling mystery that is masterfully crafted and deeply haunting.

Award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction Jewell Parker Rhodes is a master of her craft, under-standing how both real and imagined stories can serve as a pathway to enlightenment. Porch Stories is Rhodes''s tribute to her beloved grandmother, a real account of the love she received and the lessons she learned. Jewell Parker Rhodes was left in the care of her father and his mother when her own mother abandoned the family. Grandmother Ernestine''s house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was home to four other grandchildren as well. And while its crumbling bricks, lack of air-conditioning, and neighborhood rodents meant that life was anything but easy, the family house was filled with love. Everyone on their street knew and loved Grandmother Ernestine; men would tip their hats and children would rush up for a hug any time she was outside. No one loved Grandmother Ernestine more than Jewell, who would pass up a movie with her cousins to sit outside on Ernestine''s front stoop and listen to her stories and her words of comfort. Jewell would later move out West to live with her mother and father as they reattempted marriage. But that was a short-lived experience. Before long, she was back in the loving arms of her grandmother, whose wisdom and warmth gave all of her children the tools to overcome the ordinary and extraordinary challenges life brings. Porch Stories, described by Rhodes as "an intergenerational love song," is a loving tribute that is at once candid, courageous, and reverent -- a literary portrait of family love that readers from all walks of life can see in themselves.

Bestselling and award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes reimagines the classic novel Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson in this thrilling adventure set in modern-day Manhattan, in which three children must navigate the city’s hidden history, dodge a threatening crew of skater kids, and decide who they can really trust in order to hunt down a long-buried treasure. Three kids. One dog. And the island of Manhattan, laid out in an old treasure map. Zane is itching for an adventure that will take him away from his family’s boarding house in Rockaway, Queens. So when he is entrusted with a real treasure map, leading to a spot somewhere in Manhattan, Zane wastes no time in riding the ferry over to the city to start the search with his friends Kiko and Jack and his dog, Hip-Hop. Through strange coincidence, they meet a man who is eager to help them find the treasure: John, a sailor who knows all about the buried history of Black New Yorkers of centuries past—and the gold that is hidden somewhere in those stories. As a vicious rival skateboard crew follows them around the city, Zane and his friends begin to wonder who they can really trust. And soon it becomes clear that treasure hunting is a dangerous business… Jewell Parker Rhodes has written a version of Treasure Island like none you’ve never seen—one that takes the reader through little-known Black history, and under the city of Manhattan itself.

Foreword by Jewell Parker Rhodes. In this powerful collection of stories based on African, black American and Biblical proverbs, some of today''s most exciting new black American writers tackle the unifying themes, delicious wit and undeniable wisdom of the proverbs, making them sing for a whole new generation. Features contributions from best-selling authors Margaret Johnson-Hodge and Timmothy McCann, amongst many others.

From the critically acclaimed author of Voodoo Dreams, a powerful and provocative fictional account of the private life of an American icon, Frederick Douglass, and the passionate relationships he held with the two women he loved. Frederick Douglass, the great abolitionist, was one of the most famous men of his century, and he was a man who cherished freedom in life and in love. In this ambitious work of historical fiction, Douglass'' passions come vividly to life in the form of two women: Anna Murray Douglass and Ottilie Assing. Anna Douglass, a free woman of color, was Douglass'' wife of forty-four years, who bore him five children and provided him with a secure, loving home while he traveled the world with his message. Along the way, Douglass satisfied his intellectual needs in the company of Ottilie Assing, a white woman of German-Jewish descent, who would become his mistress for decades to come. Hurt by Douglass'' infidelity, Anna rejected his notion that only literacy freed the mind. For her, familial love rivaled intellectual pursuits. Ottilie was raised by parents who embraced the ideal of free love, but found herself entrapped in an unfulfilling love triangle with America''s most famous self-taught slave for nearly three decades. In her finest novel to date, Jewell Parker Rhodes vividly resurrects these two extraordinary women from history, portraying the life they led together under the same roof of the Douglass home. Here, fiery emotions of passion, jealousy, and resentment churn as the women discover an uneasy solidarity in shared love for an exceptional and powerful man. Douglass'' Women fills the gaps and silences that history has left in an unforgettable epic full of heartache and triumph.

Illustrates the power and bonds of sisterhood through step.

Season In Season (formerly titled Voodoo Season), Jewell Parker Rhodes revisits the sensual, magical landscape of her highly acclaimed debut novel, Voodoo Dreams. Moon In the second part of the New Orleans trilogy that began with Voodoo Season, Rhodes takes on an ancient African vampire in today’s Big Easy, where thrilling chills await. Hurricane In the stunning conclusion to award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes’s mystery trilogy, Dr. Marie Lavant, descendent of Voodoo queen Marie Laveau, must confront a murderous evil in New Orleans.

"MOMENTO DE DESPERTAR". ME VOLTEO. ¿QUIÉN DIJO ESO? AL OTRO LADO DE LA CALLE, LO VEO. TENUE COMO LA LLOVIZNA. ¿UN FANTASMA? ¿COMO YO? Jerome, de doce años, es la más reciente víctima, asesinada por un policía blanco que confunde su pistola de juguete con una amenaza. Como fantasma, él observa la devastación que se ha desatado en su familia y comunidad a raíz de lo que ven como un asesinato injusto y brutal. Una vez más, Jewell Parker Rhodes entrelaza hábilmente capas históricas y sociopolíticas en una historia apasionante y conmovedora sobre cómo los niños y las familias enfrentan las complejidades del mundo actual. “TIME TO WAKE UP.” I SPIN AROUND. WHO SAID THAT? ACROSS THE STREET, I SEE HIM. WISPY LIKE SOFT RAIN. A GHOST? LIKE ME? Twelve-year-old Jerome is the latest victim, shot by a white police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation that’s been unleashed on his family and community in the wake of what they see as an unjust and brutal killing. Once again Jewell Parker Rhodes deftly weaves historical and sociopolitical layers into a gripping and poignant story

Donte, seul collégien noir de sa nouvelle école, ne parvient pas à s’intégrer, tandis que Trey, son frère aîné à la peau claire, y est tout de suite devenu populaire. Les professeurs de Donte se méfient de lui, ses camarades de classe le rejettent. Alan, le capitaine de l’équipe d’escrime, le harcèle sans cesse et le surnomme « Frère noir, noir de frère » pour bien marquer sa différence. Après une énième fausse accusation, Donte est escorté par la police hors de l’école et jeté en cellule. D’abord terrorisé et humilié, Donte trouve finalement la force de se rebeller contre cette injustice. Il rejoint un club d’escrime de quartier pour apprendre à manier le fleuret et battre Alan sur son propre terrain...

En Louisiane, tout le monde croit aux esprits. Lanesha, elle, a le don de les voir. « Tu es comme moi, ma chérie, tu as un don de double-vue », lui a expliqué Mama Ya-Ya, la sage-femme qui l''a recueillie à sa naissance. Mama Ya-Ya, savait qu''un ouragan approchait, bien avant que la radio et la télévision n''en parlent. Les dégâts seront incommensurables, répète le présentateur. Tous les habitants de la Nouvelle-Orléans doivent quitter la ville. Mama Ya-Ya est très âgée, et ne possède pas de voiture, alors Lanesha a fait des provisions d''eau et de nourriture, et a cloué des planches sur les fenêtres. Elle ne sait pas ce qui l''attend, mais elle se prépare de toutes ses forces à survivre. Avec TaShlon, le fils des voisins, avec le chien Spot qu''ils viennent d''adopter ensemble. Avec le fantôme silencieux de sa mère, qui est venu pour l''aider. Avec l''amour de Mama Ya-Ya, qui est incommensurable. A partir de 9 ans.

From the award winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes, a story of a Louisiana woman stuck in the wrong city with the wrong man.Mira longs to return to the bayou, to sit on her grandma''s lap again and watch the fireflies dance through the air. But she ran off with Charlie, and now she''s trapped in a high rise apartment with a wailing baby who shares his name. Can she resist becoming a prisoner in her own home, her own marriage, and her own life? Coretta Scott King honor author Jewell Parker Rhodes tells a brief but unforgettable story of heritage, family, and resistance in Bayou Teché.