Book Review: THe CHestnut Tree by Mathew Tekulsky

October 16, 2026

This book read very much like A Tree Grows In Brooklyn but ( I hate to say it) less interesting. The narrator calls his best friend dumb or slow about 800 times in the small like 100 page book and I didn’t love that. I did really enjoy seeing the way that a child saw revolution and MLK’s impact on the world through his kindness and peaceful protest. I loved seeing the impact of young love and compassion on a community. To be fair, I am not really a historical fiction fan. I wish that I was because I know there are a lot of really great historical fiction books even just out and popular right now, but I just really don't enjoy it. I wanted to try this one out to see if I could change my tune, but alas, here I am, still not enjoying historical fiction.

We follow the story of a young Jewish boy, Adam, who is in love with a Catholic girl, Sally. He is but 12 years old and is absolutely smitten with her. One day, when following her home, he tries to hide from her in the recluse writers driveway and gets scolded to go away. As his story unfolds, he finds friendship in the spunky elderly woman and the woman who helps her around the house: Honey. He and Sally work together on all kinds of adventures and end up hosting a protest at their local public library! Life through the eyes of a young man in the 1960s in New York is a wonder to unfold.

If you like Historical fiction, I think this book would be very enjoyable to you. I did not love it.

Thank you to the author for creating this story, and NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read it.

And as always, if there is a book that you would like me to read and review, please reach out to me either via my contact page, or via my e-mail at aly.m.devine@gmail.com