A boy’s dreaded chore becomes a cause worth fighting for in an award-winning, heart-lifting, and hilarious novel about friendship, community, and self-discovery.

When disaster-prone twelve-year-old Matt Pesce accidentally sets his neighbor’s hedges on fire, his parents sentence him to community service at a senior center. But what help can Matt possibly be to the likes of the General, who’s glued to old war documentaries, a pair of elderly chess champions, and the ladies of the knitting club?

While his coolness cred at school may have taken a dive, Matt never guessed he’d light such a spark in the lives of his unlikely new friends. A bonus is a teen volunteer who is, without a doubt, the most beautiful girl Matt has ever seen. But when the bank threatens to close the center, Matt embarks on a mission to save it—with a plan so monumentally brilliant he’s trademarked it.

Join the unforgettable Matt in this prize-winning novel from Italy, as he rewrites his story and just maybe finds his place in the world too.