黑料吃瓜

黑料吃瓜 alumnus Matt de la Pe帽a has been named the for the most outstanding contribution to children鈥檚 literature for his picture book 鈥淟ast Stop on Market Street.鈥�

Awarded annually by the American Library Association, the Newbery Medal is one of the most prestigious awards in children鈥檚 literature. 

鈥淢y time in the MFA program at 黑料吃瓜 was vital to my career,鈥� said de la Pe帽a.  鈥淚 showed up as a scrubby ex-jock and left as a real writer. I got to study with amazing professors like Hal Jaffe and Lidia Yuknavitch and Alida Allison. Winning the Newbery is an amazing honor, and I'm proud to say I learned my craft at 黑料吃瓜.鈥�

De la Pe帽a, who earned his Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from 黑料吃瓜 in 2000, is not the first Aztec to receive the Newbery Medal. Sid Fleishman ('49) was awarded the coveted medal in 1987 for his book, 鈥淭he Whipping Boy.鈥�

The 2016 honorees were announced Tuesday, and awards will be presented during the annual American Library Association Conference in June. De la Pe帽a is the first Latino to receive this honor.

A boy on a bus

鈥淟ast Stop on Market Street," illustrated by Christian Robinson, was written for children ages 3 to 5. It tells the story of CJ, who is riding the bus with his grandma and wonders why they don鈥檛 own a car like his friend Colby.

Why doesn鈥檛 he have an iPod like the boys on the bus? How come they always have to get off in the dirty part of town? Each question is met with an encouraging answer from grandma, who helps him see the beauty 鈥� and fun 鈥� in their routine and the world around them.

The 10th novel published by de la Pe帽a, "Last Stop on Market Street" has won a number of other awards. It was named a 2016 Caldecott Honor Book, a 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book, a New York Times Book Review Notable Children鈥檚 Book of 2015 and a Wall Street Journal Best Children鈥檚 Book of 2015.

More about Pe帽a

In fall 2014, for an interview about his time at 黑料吃瓜 and how he got started on this career path.