A 2024 LAMBDA AWARD FINALIST This enchanting modern homage to Pinocchio reminds us anything is
possible if we're true to ourselves. -Cynthia Leitich Smith award-winning author of Ancestor
Approved and Sisters of the Neversea Eleven-year-old Matteo has never felt like one of the
other boys. He's sure that will change when he joins the Blue Whales the baseball team his dad
once played for. This is his chance to grow into a son his father can be proud of. And grow
Matteo does but not the way he expected. Instead he starts sprouting leaves and finding bark
all over his skin. Alarmed Matteo starts digging for the truth about what's happening to
him-and finds that all clues lead back to the oak tree at the center of town which Creeksiders
have always believed is a little bit magic. As his parents start noticing something is wrong
the truth gets harder to hide-and Matteo makes some surprising discoveries about himself his
hometown and his entire family tree. From Michael Leali author of The Civil War of Amos
Abernathy this earnest deconstruction of what it means to be a real boy is full of humor and
heart and a surefire home run for readers of Mark Oshiro Anne Ursu and Katherine Applegate.
