Author and District 308 employee, Mr. Michael Leali, had a surprise celebration at Homestead on May 23, the day his second book, Matteo was released.  Mr. Leali was taken on a scavenger hunt outside of Homestead that led him to a group of students and staff in the STARS program, where they greeted him with applause and balloons.  Mr. Leali then entered the gym where all the students in the school applauded and cheered him.  Mr. Leali was presented with different "thank yous" from each grade level.  Mr. Leali worked with K-5 Grade students at Homestead this year, instilling the love of reading and writing.  This year, he also released his first book, The Civil War of Amos Abernanthy.  The book became critically acclaimed and won two major awards: The Golden Kite Award for Best Middle Grade Book and Bank Street College of Education's Children's Book Committee's Best Children's Book of the Year in the Contemporary Issues Category.  Homestead graciously thanks Mr. Leali for his dedication to the students this year.