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Rodman Philbrick (born January 22, 1951) is an American writer of novels for adults and children. He has written popular children's books such asFreak the Mighty,Max the Mighty,The Last Book in the Universe, and has written other mysteries and thrillers for adults.

He was born inBoston, Massachusetts, and currently lives in bothMaine andFlorida. He attendedPortsmouth High School and he also attended University of New Hampshire for a few semesters.

Rodman Philbrick has written many mysteries and thrillers for adults, includingBrothers & Sinners,Coffins, and theT. D. Stash detective series, set inKey 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, andTorn, featuring former FBI special agent Randall Shane, who investigates the disappearance of missing children.

Two of his most popular children's books areFreak the Mighty and its sequel,Max the Mighty.Freak the Mighty was later adapted into a movie titledThe Mighty. He wrote thecyberpunk,dystopian novelThe Last Book in the Universe and thescience fantasy novelREM World. Other works for young readers includeThe Young Man and the Sea, which is dedicated to his nieces Annie and Molly, andThe Fire Pony, about two brothers on the run in the American West.The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, set in theAmerican Civil War, was named aNewbery Honor Book in 2010. A stage version ofThe Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg debuted at theKennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in 2012. He and Lynn Harnett collaborated on scary books for young readers, includingThe House on Cherry Street,The Werewolf Chronicles, andVisitors, three trilogies published by Scholastic, Inc.^[1][2]

In December 2011, writing as Chris Jordan, Philbrick publishedMeasure 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 inNew Orleans, was published in February 2014.The Big Dark was released in print and audio versions in January 2016. A mystery for young readers,Who Killed Darius Drake? was published in 2017.Wildfire, a thrilling survival tale, was published in 2019.We Own the Sky, the story of an immigrant flying circus, set in Maine in 1924, was published in September 2022.

Philbrick has also written using thepen names W. R. Philbrick, William R. Dantz, and Chris Jordan.

Philbrick and Lynn Harnett were married from 1980 until her death, in 2012. Before Philbrick began writing full-time, he worked as alongshoreman and boat builder.^[2]

Maine Katahdin Award 2020

South Carolina Junior Book Award 2021-2022 'Wildfire'

'Wildfire', William Allen White Award 2022 (Kansas)

'We Own the Sky' New-York Historical Society Best Children's Book 2023

'We Own the Sky' Bronze Medal Florida Book Award 2022

• Freak the Mighty
• Max the Mighty

• The Last Book in the Universe
• The Young Man and the Sea
• The Fire Pony
• Lobster Boy (UK title for The Young Man and the Sea)
• Rem World
• Visitors (Novel Series) (With Lynn Harnett, 1997)
• The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg (Newbery Honor Book, 2010)
• The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds: The Donner Party Expedition 1846
• Zane and the Hurricane (2014)
• The Big Dark (2016)
• Who Killed Darius Drake? (2017)
• Wildfire (2019)
• Wild River (2021)

• Taken (2007)
• Trapped (2007)
• Torn' (2009), (NL: 'Verscheurd')
• Measure of Darkness (2011), (NL: 'In duisternis gehuld')

• 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, 2000, Debbie Carton, 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 Donner Party Expedition, p. 859;
• March 15, 2005, Patricia Austin, review of The Young Man and the Sea, p. 1313.
• Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, January, 1994
• Deborah Stevenson, review of Freak the Mighty, 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, 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, April, 1994, p. 30; October, 1996, p. 212; June, 1998, p. 124.

https://rodmanphilbrick.com/

• Official website
• Rodman Philbrick at theInternet Speculative Fiction Database
• http://www.astal-ric.org/rodmanphilbrick.htm
• https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0679917/
• http://www.randomhouse.com/author/23848/rodman-philbrick
• http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/p/rodman-philbrick/
• Rodman Philbrick atLibrary of Congress Authorities — with 29 catalog records
• William R. Dantz at LC Authorities
• Chris Jordan at LC Authorities

• 1951 births
• Living people
• Newbery Honor winners
• Shamus Award winners
• 20th-century American novelists
• 21st-century American novelists
• American male novelists
• 20th-century American male writers
• 21st-century American male writers
• Philbrick family

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• BLP articles lacking sources from June 2022
• All BLP articles lacking sources
• Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia