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, starting in 2012, when lawmakers passed laws to remove materials containing "critical race theory," until 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 (NCTE) National Intellectual Freedom Award. In 2015, he wrote Last Stop on Market Street which won the 2016 Newbery Medal. In 2021, he published Milo Imagines the World, which was named to the 2022 Bank Street Children's Best Books of the Year List with an "Outstanding Merit" distinction and shared the committee's Josette Frank Award with Angeline Boulley's Firekeeper's Daughter.

, he resides in Southern California. He teaches creative writing at San Diego State University.

Books YearTitleIllustratorPublisherNote2005Ball Don't LieDelacorte PressNamed a 2006 ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults and an ALA-YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers, and developed into a motion picture in 2008 featuring Ludacris, Nick Cannon, and Emilie de Ravin. 2008Mexican WhiteBoyDelacorte PressNamed a 2009 ALA-YALSA Best Books for Young Adults (Top Ten Pick), and was featured on the 2008 Bulletin for the Center of Children's Literature Blue Ribbon List. 2009We Were HereRandom House IncNamed a 2010 ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults, a 2010 ALA-YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers. 2010I Will Save You Named a 2011 ALA-YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers and a Junior Library Guild Selection. A Nation's Hope-The Story of Boxing Legend Joe LouisKadir NelsonReceived starred reviews from Booklist, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal. A 2012 Bank Street Children's Book Committee's Best Book of the Year. 2013Infinity Ring: Curse of the Ancients Eternity The Living 2015The HuntedPenguin Random HouseLast Stop on Market StreetChristian RobinsonPenguin BooksWon the 2016 Newbery Medal, a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, and a Caldecott Honor. A 2016 Bank Street Children's Book Committee's Best Book of the Year with an "outstanding merit" distinction. A 2022 Bank Street Children's Book Committee's Best Book of the Year with an "outstanding merit" distinction and winner of the committee's Josette Frank Award for fiction for younger readers.