Matt de la Peña
Matthew de la Peña is an American writer of children's books who specializes in novels for young adults. He won the Newbery Medal in 2016 for his book Last Stop on Market Street.Biography
A San Diego, California native, Matt de la Peña received his BA from University of the Pacific which he attended on a basketball scholarship. He then received his MFA in creative writing from San Diego State University.
de la Peña wrote Mexican WhiteBoy in 2008 drawing on his own teenage passion 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" from 2012 to 2017 when the court ruled the law violated the constitutional rights of Mexican American students.
In 2016, de la Peña was honored with the National Council of Teachers of English National Intellectual Freedom Award. In 2015, he wrote Last Stop on Market Street which won the 2016 Newbery Medal. He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.Books
