Meg Medina

Meg Medina is an American children’s and young adult author of Cuban descent, known for books that celebrate Latino culture and the lives of young people. She writes across age categories—including picture books, middle grade, and young adult fiction—and served as the 2023–2024 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, becoming the first Latina to hold this role. Medina received the 2019 John Newbery Medal for her middle-grade novel Merci Suárez Changes Gears and has earned multiple Pura Belpré Awards, including a 2014 author award for Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass and a 2016 honor for Mango, Abuela and Me.

Her picture books and novels include Mango, Abuela and Me, Tía Isa Wants a Car, Evelyn del Rey Is Moving Away, Burn Baby Burn, and the Merci Suárez series, among other titles that have garnered national recognition and numerous literary honors. Medina has also been recognized with the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award for Tía Isa Wants a Car and has seen Burn Baby Burn longlisted for the National Book Award and cited for prizes such as the Kirkus Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.