Funny, entertaining, with laugh out loud moments and goofy humor that made me giggle, Matt Sprouts is a relatable middle years’ kid who accidentally injured his neighbour Jenna with his not so stealthy karate moves. His punishment? The Curse. What is the curse you ask? Well that’s the universe’s way of levelling the playing field and ensuring that Matt’s accidental misdeed does not go unpunished. As the story progresses Matt experiences real character growth, gains new friends, develops work ethic, learns new soccer moves, and somehow manages to break not one or two, but all 10 of his toes.

A fun and easy read, if I still taught grade 5 I would be reading this book aloud to my students. As is evident in all of Matt Eicheldinger’s stories (while this is his first book, he tells stories on Instagram), there is always a positive lesson and a different perspective to consider that just makes you feel warm and fuzzy. Matt truly has a gift for storytelling, evident from both his online stories and through the tales of Matt Sprouts in all his middle school adventures. I loved the woes of friendship, angst, and goofy awkwardness that are included in this well written, relatable, funny story. I think this book is going to be really popular with middle schoolers. I’m pretty sure my nephew is going to laugh out loud at Matt’s antics when his copy arrives shortly. I can’t wait to read book two “Matt Sprouts and the Day Nora Ate the Sun,” which is out on September 3, 2024.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the advance digital copy of this book. I highly recommend this book! Out tomorrow!

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I'm well past the target demographic for this book and without any age appropriate youngsters to read it with, but that doesn't stop me for loving it and enjoying the hero's journey . Poor Matt didn't mean to break Jenna's collarbone. He was only demonstrating his awesome ninja skills. Then slowly he started breaking his own toes. As he realizes he is cursed, he must figure out how to break the curse. Funny and relatable. Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Matt Sprouts and the Curse of the Ten Broken Toes by Matthew Eicheldingeris a wonderful novel following Matt and the curse that follows him no matter how he tries to avoid it. I've been following Mr. E. on Instagram for quite awhile now and have enjoyed his stories, humor, positivity and easy going manner. This book is an extension of his personality and is a must for young readers. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

3,5 stars

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Matt is an 11 year old boy who lives in Montrose, Colorado with his younger brother Elliot, their parents and a dog called Nala. Matt has a pretty good life! He loves ninjas, watching Saturday morning cartoons and playing soccer. His best friend Eric lives next door and it’s an event that happened with Eric’s sister Jenna, I still don’t think was even remotely believable, that set the curse in motion. A curse that causes Matt to break toe after toe… Will he be able to stop it?

Boys are going to love this one. It’s fun, lots of things that only boys are “stupid” enough to do happen and some gross stuff too.

What I mostly enjoyed was Matt’s development throughout the story. At first I didn’t think there would be any valuable lessons to be learned here, more like the opposite (don’t ever walk into a field where there’s even the possibility to encounter a bull!! You will not make it back alive) but especially at the end, there was a great one! It really warmed my heart!

This was a fun book with some things that unfortunately didn’t make sense, not all characters were well developed and some questionable parenting happend but when you don’t let those things bother you, you will probably enjoy reading about Matt and his friends, like I did!

Matt Sprouts is looking forward to his summer. In the fall, he will be moving up to middle school. Matt is going to try out for an elite soccer league. Things are really looking up. Then Matt accidentally breaks his neighbor, Jenna’s, collar bone. He feels a sense of guilt over the injury but still is looking forward to his summer. Then Matt breaks two toes. When his brother and friends tell Matt about a Curse, he laughs it off. But as the summer progresses and Matt breaks more toes, he starts to worry about how to reverse the Curse. This is a fun book. It is a quick read for middle graders. My eight-year-old grandson loved it. Five stars all around!

I enjoyed this book - great for fans of Dork Diaries, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, maybe Bailey School Kids and the Super Fudge books. While the story itself was cute, I particularly enjoyed the sass of Matt and that he was a REAL KID, not some idealized version of kids or a stereotypical bully or anything. He's relatable and I can see other kids, boys, girls and nonbinary, relating to his simultaneous superstition and doubt in the Curse. I also appreciate that Matt's struggles are not super heavy and deep - they draw empathy from the reader without overwhelming them, and it's still entertaining and humorous.

3.5 stars.

Matt is your regular kid about to enter middle school. He is a free-spirit, wild, think without speaking, grade 6 boy. The problem is that his attitude and act-first, think-last mentality is causing trouble and hurting people in the process. Soon enough he is found himself plagued with "the curse" and starts breaking his toes, one at a time. Will he be able to figure out how to stop the curse before it's too late?

This book reminded me of an older version of Junie B Jones and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing series. The illustrations were a fun extra touch in the book. The chapters were quick to read and the characters relatable for the age group.

As an adult, I found the story started to become repetitive after his fourth toe was broken. But, I'm sure my kids will enjoy it and find it hilarious.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a free advanced reader copy.

Matt thinks he has great karate moves until he tries one on the neighbor Jenna and ends up breaking her collarbone. This break ruins her summer and starts the curse of the 10 broken toes. Throughout the summer and into the following, Matt breaks toe after toe. Finally, by the end of the book he finds out how to break the curse.

I follow Matt Eicheldinger on Instagram and just love his stories. I was glad that I was able to read his book. I think this is going to be a popular middle school book.

For an adult, this book and the Matt character in particular are about as palatable as the vegetable he's named after.

I read this book as a pre-release e-book obtained through NetGalley, provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

This is a lovely book with a message. It not only gives vivid portrayal of the southern Western Slope of Colorado – with all of its spectacular beauty, but it is descriptive of the life of a middle school kid – with all of life’s ups and downs – including a legend of a Curse from the superstitious minds of young teens. There’s school, there are likeable and unliked teachers, there’s team sports, there’s camp, there are cliques, there’s romance, there’s falling out and falling in with friends, there’s yard work for a neighbor, there’s disappointment getting paid less than you thought, there’s horsing around, there’s someone getting hurt, there’s skiing, there are bullies, there’s getting even, and the narrator of the story gets 10 broken toes over several incidents, he believes, as a punishment for horsing around and breaking a neighbor girl’s collar bone.

There’s a moral to the story: You can't let curveballs bother you. You have to tackle those problems and confront them head-on, whether you want to or not. And, you set things right.

This is written for middle schoolers, yet is an endearing story for any adult reminiscing how things were in our tween years – and a reminder why we’re all glad those years are over. It’s best read a chapter or two at a time while remembering one’s own school days.

Matt Sprouts and the Curse of the Ten Broken Toes by Matthew Eicheldinger is a fun middle grade chapter book. I am a fan of this author’s story telling on Instagram. I was interested in reading this book as a result. I found his book fun and endearing much like his Instagram posts. I think tweens will love this book about childhood and siblings and the difficulties of middle school. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.