Matt de la Pena
#71133 Most Popular
About
Children's author who won the Newbery Medal in 2016 for his book Last Stop on Market Street. He wrote Mexican WhiteBoy in 2008, drawing on his teenage love for sports and Mexican heritage. The novel was banned from classrooms in Tucson, Arizona, when lawmakers passed laws to remove materials containing "critical race theory." In 2017, the court ruled the law violated the constitutional rights of Mexican American students.
Before Fame
He received his BA from University of the Pacific. He attended on a basketball scholarship. He then received his MFA in creative writing from San Diego State.
Trivia
In 2016, he was honored with the National Council of Teachers of English National Intellectual Freedom Award. In 2021, he published Milo Imagines the World, which was named to the 2022 Bank Street Children's Best Books of the Year List. He taught creative writing at San Diego State University.
Family Life
His father was Mexican. He married Caroline Sun.
Associated With
He and Mildred D Taylor both won the Newberry Medal for their work.
