Hailing from a working class border town in Southern California, Matt de la Peña (Last Stop on Market Street, Mexican WhiteBoy, Milo Imagines the World) grew up in an environment that deeply valued strength and stoicism and oftentimes discouraged big displays of emotion from men. Instilled with a strong work ethic and the pursuit of opportunities, he followed in the footsteps of the men in his family and community. But still, there was a deeper truth to life within a buried emotional side that he felt compelled to explore.

As early as high school, Matt would embrace this side of himself by secretly writing poetry, continuing on this journey to emotional self discovery throughout adulthood. Now, influenced by writers such as Kate DiCamillo and the late Cormac McCarthy, Matt’s books seek out the deeper and sometimes darker parts of life, teaching kids the invaluable skill of acknowledging melancholy and granting them the permission to appreciate their own emotional complexity.

In this episode, Matt will share his lifelong journey to accessing his own emotions and how his writing teaches kids to do the same. 

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For his reading challenge, Conversation Starters, Matt invites us to ponder alongside our youngest readers with his curated selection of picture books. You can find his list and all past reading challenges at thereadingculture.com/matt-de-la-pena.

This episode’s Beanstack featured librarian is Cicely Lewis, School Library Journal’s 2020 school librarian of the year, from Gwinnett County Public Schools. Cicely, aka the Read Woke librarian, shares about an awesome way to keep high schoolers excited about reading for pleasure and also a very fun birthday tradition at her school. 

Chapter 1 - One Side of the Border (2:24)

Chapter 2 - The Good, Bad, and Masculine (7:20)

Chapter 3 - The Closet Poet (11:14)

Chapter 4 - Sutree (14:38)

Chapter 5 - The Future of Latinx Voices (24:38)

Chapter 6 - Leaning Forward (27:58)

Chapter 7 - Writing Up (31:58)

Chapter 8 - Conversation Starters (33:59)

Chapter 9 - Beanstack Featured Librarian (34:55)