Author Archive

Immigration is a complex and loaded issue. Obviously. I don’t believe the job of the fiction writer is to come up with answers to such issues but to ask interesting questions. Two of my recent books are set atop our country’s current struggle with immigration. When Clark discovers his alien background in Superman, he

This May I went back to my alma mater, University of the Pacific, to deliver the commencement speech. I was also awarded an honorary doctorate and inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. This is easily one of the greatest honors of my life, and I’m humbled to forever be a part of the UOP family.

Knowing that a book I’ve written is being read by real people — real young people — is both thrilling and humbling. But twice now I’ve had the experience of making Last Stop on Market Street  come alive. The first time was in Kansas City, where a few super creative public librarians came up

Superman is coming soon. March 5. And the reviews are starting to come in. The first one is a star from kirkus: “A wonderful, bold interpretation of a DC icon that aspires to embrace all readers, new and old.” (You can read the whole review here.) I’m so honored and humbled to have been

Sean Connors from the University of Arkansas has a great new Podcast called The Storytellers Thread. I sat down with him over the holidays to talk about my work. We covered a lot of ground. If you’re interested in giving it a listen, you can access it on iTunes or Soundcloud or just click

Earlier this month, Christian Robinson and I finished a three-week tour for Carmela Full of Wishes. It’s always an honor to be sent on the road for a book, but this one was special. This was a book dedicated to my Mexican grandparents. This was a book celebrating family and community and the power

Christian Robinson and I are hitting the road in October to promote our new collaboration, Carmela Full of Wishes. (**The book will be available in both Spanish and English!) In a time when folks speak openly of building walls and exclusivity, I was moved to tell the story of one young Dreamer, Carmela, who is

Writers. We are so very flawed. So human. We mess up in life. Our books never quite measure up to what we hoped they would become when we first conceived them in our heads. Or maybe it’s just me…. But what a gift to be reminded that there are real people out there, YOUNG

Carmela got her first two reviews, and they’re both STARS! One from PW and one from Kirkus. Christian and I feel so fortunate. Can’t wait to share this book with young people everywhere! Here are the reviews:  Carmela Full of Wishes — PW Matt de la Peña, illus. by Christian Robinson. It’s Carmela’s birthday,

This weekend I read a post about Love that knocked me out. It was on a taste-maker site called Brain Pickings (you can read the post here), the brainchild of Maria Popova. She is wonderfully insightful about LOVE, but I went on to read so many other posts, and I’m blown away, and at