Alexus Rhone (affectionately known as “Ms. Alexus”) is a YA author devoted to candidly exploring teen issues through fiction.  Graciously labeled “the black Judy Blume,” her universal stories engage even the most reluctant of readers.  Her debut novel, Premature Pleasures (2001), hit Children’s/Young Adult bestseller lists around the southwest region and her sophomore release, Secret Shame (2003), debuted #2 on the Dallas Morning News Bestsellers List and #3 in Essence Magazine (August 2003).  Alexus recently completed her third teen novel, Backseats and Bleachers:  A High School Love Story (release date pending) and is sketching her fourth and final project in the Trek Baden-series, Cover the Coo.

She has worked extensively with various youth organizations as a mentor and is frequently sought out for youth-oriented speaking engagements around the nation, including The Tavis Smiley Youth Foundation who invited Alexus to be a facilitator at the Regional Youth-2-Leader Symposium in Houston, Texas, and the National Y2L Conference in Washington, D.C.  

To the numerous awards and honors bestowed on Alexus, in 2005, The Phoenix Business Journal awarded her the coveted "40 Under 40" Award in recognition of her business acumen and leadership in the community.  In addition, Alexus has been selected as a Spanish Fellow with Instituto Londres and will teach language arts outside Mexico City this summer.   During the school year, she serves as a writer-in-residence at several high schools in Phoenix and travels the country actively promoting and lecturing on teen issues.

Alexus holds a Bachelor of Journalism/Public Relations degree from the University of Texas at Austin and resides in Phoenix, AZ, with her husband, Lewis.