Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

I was unsure how a Pinocchio retelling would work, but this book was pure joy and delight. I smiled most of the time I was reading it, and wanted to wrap Matteo up in a hug. It's a simple story, and would be perfect for any middle grade reader. It was a sweet story about family, love, acceptance, and community. I loved the character development and the way the interviews were interspersed throughout the chapters. I also was riveted by the mystery of Matteo and where he came from. I think any reader, both young and young at heart, will find something to resonate with in this book.

Oh wow, this was a fantastic book! The voice was excellent, and that ending...whew! The premise reminded me of The Odd Life of Timothy Green which is also a tearjerker, and overall, I absolutely loved it.

(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change upon final publication.)

An odd set up but one that works surprisingly well. I liked the ideas of a community's connection to a symbol and our shared responsibility towards our environment (both physical and emotional). The details are fairly strange, though, and might be difficult for the average reader to accept.

Michael Leali's Matteo is a contemporary spin on Pinocchio and The Giving Tree, but in a less-problematic, overall better way.

Eleven year old Matteo just wants to grow a little so he can be a better baseball player. But the leaves, twigs, and bark growing out of his body is not what he had in mind. Matteo sets out to discover why this is happening, all while keeping it from his overprotective parents.

Matteo isn't just dealing with treeing out, he's also facing bullies, learning how to stand up for himself, and figuring out his feelings for his friend/former friend, Omar. That's an awful lot for any eleven year old, let alone one who starts sprouting anytime he's hiding something.

Each of these themes is handled in an age-appropriate and accessible way for young readers. While treeing out may not be on the average ten or eleven year old's radar, learning the difference between friend feelings and crush feelings certainly is, along with dealing with unkindness and figuring out how to tell your parents who you are when you're worried they won't accept you.

Also, can we just take a moment to appreciate the eleven year old narrator here? So often, especially in books featuring boys as the main character, the character is much older. These younger middle grade readers really need this age group represented, and I'm grateful to have Matteo modeling what to do-- and what not to do (if the main character always does the right thing, there's not a lot of story there and kids are way less likely to relate!).

Matteo and his friends are delightful to spend time with. From Azura, the burgeoning filmmaker, to Omar, the former friend who could maybe be a friend again, Matteo's world is populated with well-developed characters whose paths overlap in interesting and unique ways.

The town of Creekside isn't just the setting, it's practically a character unto itself (and those who have read the book will get this wink!). It's a small town where everyone knows everyone else's business, and that can be a good thing and a not so good thing. The pros and cons of living in, and leaving, this small town are explored.

Overall, this is a fun read with a thought-provoking plot. Matteo is perfect for fans of Luca (small town adventures with high stakes and great friends, plus being true to oneself) and stories with a bit of magic set in our world.

Matteo is available now.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Children's Books, and Michael Leali for an e-arc such that I could share my honest opinions.

I wouldn't call this a Pinnochio retelling, but maybe an homage to it. The magic in this is sweet and beautiful. It's an interesting premise and I loved seeing the different ways one action could affect many people. I loved how all the family stuff wrapped up at the end, but there were a couple loose ties with friends that I'd loved to have seen a little more from.

Shout out to Net Galley and Harper Collins for the ARC of this middle grade book! If you are looking for an engaging text that includes contemporary activities (making the baseball team) mixed with magical realism and ghost fish, then this is for you! To say you won't see what's coming is an understatement. A cute book with themes of fitting in, family, ancestry, first crush, sports, and more! Great for ages 10 and up.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Michael Leali and the publisher of the book for the eARC copy of "Matteo" in exchange for an honest review.

Matteo has never really felt like the other boys in his town, but he hopes that will change now that he's on the blue whales baseball team. The same team is dad was on.
Things change though when Matteo turns 11. He soon starts sprouting leaves from his fingers and growing bark on his skin. Matteo is obviously panicked and begins trying to find out the truth about himself and the town. Matteo tries to hide the truth from his parents, but as things get worse it's harder to hide. Will Matteo be able to figure out what is going on before it is too late?

A very unique book about liking you for who you are! I thought it was a great read and I would recommend it to other readers.

I met the author at a conference back in March when he was promoting The Civil War of Amos Abernathy, and I thought he was delightful, so I requested this without knowing anything about it. It’s a little different than I expected – much like Ellie Engle Saves Herself, I thought it was more straightforward realistic fiction, but again we’ve got magical realism and quasi-superpowers.

Matteo was adopted - the novel opens on his 11th birthday, with his parents telling the story of how he joined their family (mom and dad both prayed to…the town tree [just go with it] and then dad found baby Matteo wrapped in blankets on the firehouse steps). Matteo loves his parents, but he’s always felt like he’s sort of a disappointment to his dad, who always wants him to be better. He’s also struggling with the typical indignities of being 11 - puberty and first crushes, made even worse by the fact that he has a crush on his best friend Omar. Omar started giving Matteo the cold shoulder the year before when he made the baseball team and Matteo didn’t, but this year they’re both on the team, and Matteo is hopeful they can be friends again.

Meanwhile, he and his best friend Azure are making a documentary for the town’s bicentennial celebration. The chapters are all intercut with snippets from their interviews – these are really charming, and I kind of wished they were a little longer. It gives a good snapshot of the other people in town, and it’s also fun to see a character in their interview vs in their interactions with Matteo.

In the midst of all this, Something Strange is happening. The old oak tree, which is as old as the town, is dying. In fact, it’s due to be cut down right after the bicentennial celebration. Through the interviews, we learn people have sort of mixed feelings about the tree – lots of people love it (and in fact many items in town were *made* from it), but others find it sort of spooky. For Matteo, the weirdness starts when he comes home from a baseball game with his socks full of leaves. And it only gets worse from there – every time he lies…he grows tree parts - bark, sometimes leaves. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s definitely strange (and it’s a little freaky to read about!), and the more he tries to figure it out, the more it seems to lead back to the actual tree itself.

Overall this was really cute. Matteo is adorably likable, and his friendships with Azure and Omar are sweet. Matteo’s parents are great characters too - they’re trying their best, but they just aren’t listening to him, and his frustration is relatable. I wasn’t super crazy about the…tree of it all. It’s not gory or explicit in any way, but it is a little squicky. It’s also right there in the cover blurb, so if you actually read about it before you pick it up, it’s not a surprise! But overall a sweet story. We need more queer middle grade books!

I got an ARC of this book.

I wanted to like it more, but I was really just not into it. The casual homophobia, the abandoning of friends (then acting like they abandoned you being forgiven so easily), the weird focus on little league baseball. A lot of it just made me feel weird.

The turning into a tree when he lied plot was interesting, but then even that wasn't enough to keep me going. I needed more from this. The only parts I went ahead and skimmed after I decided to give up were the interviews that happened between the chapters. Those were always highlights. Those interviews are why I didn't rate this one star. They were that much a draw for me.

In an homage to Pinocchio, Matteo feels like he’s never good enough for his dad especially when it comes to baseball. Matteo’s friend Azura knows Matteo has feelings for Omar but hasn’t told him. One day Matteo feels tree growths on his skin and wonders if the town’s huge oak tree is making him sick. As time passes, Matteo thinks he might know what triggers his tree growing superpowers, and he’s beginning to feel more confident. As family secrets come out, Matteo feels the tree chose him to find the truth. The town cuts the tree down, and now Matteo wants to bring it back to life. Can he do it? Wait until you meet Cricket, the goldfish/ghost fish!

Michael Leali has produced another gem for queer kids and anyone who likes a good story. Matteo is a charming story of a boy who is realizing he is gay and also, incidentally, a tree. Matteo's doubts and questions about his identity and how his family will view him if they find out either of his secrets are realistic and timely. The betrayals of both friendship and bullying are spot on for middle school. Readers (even those who have never sprouted bark and leaves) will relate to Matteo and cheer for him to embrace all of who he is and push others to accept him and everyone else for who they are. The nod to Pinnochio is well done. It was fun for me to spot all the references, but the story will be completely understandable to a reader who is unfamiliar with the story of Pinnochio.

This book was very reminiscent of the movie The Odd Life of Timothy Green. I remember really enjoying that movie and I really enjoyed this book. I think kids will really like this story. I found myself reading “just one more” chapter several times. I wanted to read what would happen next. I also like the LGBTQ themes.

This is truly an unexpected book - even though the beginning has those hints of magic, you don't realize just how magical the book is until the story starts unfolding, tiny hints building up and revealing itself. Also, as a Pinocchio retelling, it was endearing!

As lots of middle grades students do, Matteo has never quite felt like a typical kid. He longs to be the son he thinks his dad wants, but he’s just not that great at baseball. He has drifted apart from his more athletic friend, Omar - a friend who makes his heart race and mind reel inexplicably. Matteo longs to grow taller and stronger to help him fit in, but the growth he gets is entirely unexpected - instead of height and muscles, he starts sprouting leaves, and bark covers his skin. As he tries to uncover the truth behind this mind-boggling turn of events, Matteo uncovers long-buried family secrets and a magnetic pull to the town’s beloved oak tree. Just as Pinocchio learned that a lie would cause his nose to grow, Matteo learns the importance of being true to ourselves even when that truth might be scary. Expected May, 2023.

This contemporary fantasy about a magical tree and a seemingly non-magical boy is an odd book, that I don’t think I can compare with anything else I have read. Not so much a modern telling of Pinocchio, as perhaps an homage to it. There is a goldfish that Matteo tells everything to, called Cricket.

Matteo is a boy that his parents found as a baby, after making a wish on the old oak tree in their small town. The oak tree was nearly as old as the town, and people had many stories about how it could grant wishes, and how strange things had happened regarding the tree.

But strange things start happening, as he hits puberty. Every time he lies, he doesn’t so much have his nose grow, but have leaves appear on him, or bark.

There are several themes running through this story, the most is being true to yourself as well as others, in all things, including who you love. We know that Matteo is in love with his best friend, Omar, but can’t find a way to tell him. But there is someone else in the past that also wasn’t true to themselves, and that is affecting the health of the tree, which appears to be dying.

Good middle grade story.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

So this book was not what I expected, but it was so cute and good. This is the second book I’ve read by the author, and he has become one of my auto buy authors. This may be a middle grade book, but I think it is a book for everyone.