Erin Entrada Kelly
Erin Entrada Kelly is a Filipino American children's author known for writing novels for middle schoolers and weaving Filipino culture into her stories. Her work explores themes of identity, bullying, and feeling like an outsider, drawn from her own experiences as a Filipino American. Kelly's mother was born in the Philippines and met Kelly's father, an American sailor. Kelly won the Newbery Medal in 2018 for her book Hello, Universe. She is a two-time Newbery Medalist, Sibert Honoree, and National Book Award Finalist. She teaches in the Master's Program in Writing for Young Readers at the University of San Francisco.
Awards
['Newbery Medal (2018)', 'Newbery Medal (2025)', 'Newbery Honor (2021)', 'National Book Award Finalist', 'Sibert Honor', 'Deutscher Jugendliteratur Preis (German Youth Literature Prize)', "APALA Award for Children's Literature", 'Golden Kite Award']
Notable Works
['Blackbird Fly (2015)', 'Hello, Universe (2018)', 'We Dream of Space (2020)', 'The First State of Being (2024)', 'At Last She Stood (2025)', 'The Second Life of Snap (2026)']
