The issues Luca faces are real: his parents’ marriage is on the rocks, the family restaurant is draining their finances, his younger siblings are annoying, there’s best friend drama, and he has a serious crush…on the same boy his bestie, June, likes.

Like many tween and teen age kids, Luca feels like he needs to fix everything. He’s desperate to get his parents to reunite. Making pizza is his passion and his joy, and he’s good at it. But his mom won’t vary the menu the restaurant has featured for three generations. But when Luca finds out that his favorite food TV host, Tyler Perkins, is looking for pizza restaurants to feature in his final season of Pizza Perfect (think a pizza-centric Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives), and he thinks he may have the way to solve all the problems.

I like the deft way the author handles Luca’s issues, especially the weight of feeling responsible for so many things. The progression is natural as, finally, Luca and his parents all realize that he’s being expected to do too much. The addition of the TV host as a sort of mentor was sweet.

Likewise, the friendships and handling of Luca’s crush ring true. A crush is a crush, painful and beautiful, no matter what genders are involved. I remember having some of those same crush-feelings a million years ago when I was Luca’s age.

There is a liberal sprinkling of Italian words in here. I feel like Luca maybe says “Mamma mia!” a little too much. It’s comes across as kind of trite to me.

All in all, a great addition for a classroom library, especially for teachers, parents, or librarians seeking more representation.

Possible Objectionable Material:
Luca is very clear about being gay and having known he was gay for a long time. Divorce. Parents fighting. Money troubles. Friend issues.

Who Might Like This Book:
Foodies—especially pizza fanatics. Those who like coming-of-age stories. LGBTQIA+ kids looking for stories about kids like them.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

This book is also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2024/05/representation-matters.html

Thank you HarperCollins and Netgalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. This was so cute! Luca has got a lot on his plate between juggling his family’s pizza restaurant, helping with his siblings, and trying to keep his parents together. But he’s about to meet Will, who brings him some much needed joy. The only problem is he’s pretty sure his best friend June is also interested in Will, and Luca doesn’t know if he is gay or not. When the opportunity to boost the restaurant by going on his favorite show, Pizza Perfect, he’ll jump at the opportunity. But with all he’s got going on can he pull it together? Will he be able to tell Will how he feels? I loved this one! A quick paced story! It’s fun, heartfelt, sweet, and ends wonderfully!

Incredibly cute middle grade book about a middle school boy who’s trying to hold it all together, his friendships, his parents marriage, and the family pizzeria. Luca is a talented pizza maker and anxious kid who wants to make everything perfect for everyone else and loses himself in the process.

Loved this book about Luca with so much on his plate as he tries to help his family with their struggling pizza restaurant. His parents are having marital issues, and he think he might like new student Will. When Will’s favorite pizza show announces a contest, Luca enters the contest in hopes it might save their restaurant and his parent’s marriage. Does Luca and his family win the contest? Does Will feel the same way as Luca?