About Matt:  Matt Mendez is the author of Barely Missing Everything, his debut novel, and the short story collection Twitching Heart. Barely Missing Everything has been called a “searing portrait of two Mexican-American families” by Publishers Weekly and “accessible and artful” in a stared review by Kirkus.  The New York Times says [Mendez] “has an uncanny ability to capture the aimless bluster of young boys posturing at confidence.”  

Barely Missing Everything was named a 2019 Best YA Book by Kirkus, Seventeen Magazine, NBC Latino, and Texas Monthly.  It was a Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers Nominee, awarded second place in the International Latino Book Awards, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and a Land of Enchantment Black Bear Book Award winner.  

Like many of his characters Matt grew up in El Paso, Texas and continues to love and live in the Southwest, now in Tucson, Arizona.  He is a military veteran and earned his MFA from the University of Arizona where he has taught creative writing.  Matt is the father of two daughters that he loves fiercely.

His new novel, The Broke Hearts, is set for release on September 19th, 2023.   

Photo by Chris Summitt