About the Author
Brooks Whitney Phillips
Author · Journalist · Floridian
Brooks Whitney Phillips is an author, journalist, and freelance writer. She wrote a syndicated column and feature stories on music and the arts for the Chicago Tribune and has contributed travel, design, and lifestyle stories to national publications.
She is the recipient of the Marianne Russo Award for Novel-in-Progress from the Key West Literary Seminar—one of the most significant recognitions in American literary fiction for work in progress.
She lives in Key West, Florida and Saugatuck, Michigan.
“It was always bubbling underneath. I just needed the right moment—the right room, the right prompt—to let it surface.”
— Brooks Whitney Phillips on The Grove
The Grovebegan as a writing prompt at an all-women's writing group at the Key West Library. It grew, in stolen moments, into the novel she always knew was waiting. Though published as young adult fiction, Phillips has said she did not write it for any particular audience—she wrote the story she needed to tell.
The novel was acquired by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and published on June 17, 2025, to starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.
Awards & Recognition
2025
YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults
Young Adult Library Services Association
Pre-publication
Marianne Russo Award for Novel-in-Progress
Key West Literary Seminar