Newbery Honor author Rodman Philbrick has written more than a dozen award-winning novels for young readers, but before he began writing children's books, he was a prize-winning author of mysteries for adults. Rodman Philbrick's first novel for young readers, Freak the Mighty, has nearly four million copies in print and won the California Young Reader Medal before its release as a feature film, The Mighty, starring Sharon Stone. Rodman Philbrick grew up in a small town in New England, and he currently divides his time between Maine and the Florida Keys.