Lee & Low Names New Voices Winner
Roberto Peñas
Roberto Peñas, author of Pedro Flores: The Toymaker has won the New Voices Award given by Lee & Low Books. Peñas will receive $1,000 and a publication deal with Lee & Low.
The work is a biography of Flores, the inventor of the modern yo-yo. Peñas is Filipino-American and his background inspired his research of the inventor, who was Filipino. Peñas said in a news release that he admired the way Flores valued education and became a successful entrepreneur when many immigrants worked as agricultural laborers.
Peñas has a master’s degree in Philippine History and experience with children’s books as a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Hannah Hohman
