Answer:
though it doesn't give his age, he's probably around fourteen or fifteen years old. Matty is a kind and compassionate adolescent, and he loves learning things. Matty came from a settlement far away when he was a young child (as described in Gathering Blue, where he was called Matt). His settlement was harsh and cruel, and because Matty remembers what it was like to live there, he has even more of a vested interest in maintaining the harmony, openness, and kindness in Village. Matty does his best to follow the rules of Village, but throughout the novel, he keeps it a secret that he has a special gift: he can heal people and animals by touching them. This gift scares Matty and he at points wonders whether he could trade it away. Trade Mart fascinates Matty, even more so since Seer, his guardian, insists that Matty is too young to go. Matty mostly wants to attend so that he can trade for a Gaming Machine. However, when Matty does go to Trade Mart, he sees that people are trading away their deepest selves and are becoming selfish and mean, something that disturbs Matty greatly. Matty is an observant and insightful person, so he's constantly on the lookout for people who have traded. His observant nature also means that he's one of only a few people who can move through Forest unharmed, and for this, he dreams of receiving the true name of Messenger. Matty has a way with dogs and so adopts a puppy, later named Frolic, from Mentor and Jean's mother dog. His crush on Jean means that Matty takes any excuse to spend time with her. Because Matty is loyal to those he loves, he insists to Leader that he must follow Seer's wishes, travel to his old village, and return home with Kira, Seer's daughter. During this journey, when told to do so by Leader and Kira, Matty uses his gift to heal Forest, sacrificing himself in the process. Following this, Leader gives Matty his true name: Healer