I think I've reviewed this book about three times now, but I just can't stop coming back to it.
I'm currently reading Echo which was a Newbery honor book in 2016, the same year Last Stop on Market Street won the medal. I wanted to see if I thought Last Stop really deserved the medal over Echo (which I'm enjoying much more than I ever liked Last Stop).
This time I really paid attention to the words, and thinking about it, de la Peña does write effectively and evocatively. There is an expansive story conveyed in very little text.
I think after this reading I better understand why Last Stop won the Newbery, though I still don't agree that it should have won.