Will isn’t awake to provide the answers, and Max wasn’t there when Will’s accident occurred. The plot of A Perfect Mistake follows a young 6th grade boy, Max, as he struggles to figure out how exactly his best friend Will ended up in a medically-induced coma. I haven’t read many books with ADHD representation, so I deeply appreciated the educational aspects of this book in relation to how ADHD may present itself in both children and adults. Happy Monday all! The book I’m reviewing today was a lovely middle grade mystery with great ADHD rep. If you’d like to follow along with the rest of the tour, you can find the tour schedule here. When she’s not writing, Melanie spends her time doodling and dreaming up new ways to be creative. She is also the author of Every Missing Piece, A Perfect Mistake (2022), and her picture book debut, When You Have to Wait (2023). Her debut middle grade novel, Counting Thyme, is a Nerdy Book Award winner, a Bank Street Best Children’s Book, winner of the International Literacy Association Teacher’s Choice Award, and a finalist for the Missouri Mark Twain Book Award, the Iowa Children’s Choice Award, the Illinois Bluestem Award, and the Arkansas Charlie May Simon Award. Melanie Conklin grew up in North Carolina and worked as a product designer before she began her writing career. Purchase/Information Links:įor a list of warnings, tropes, and representation for this book, check out its page on. Charged by the idea that he may be the key to uncovering the truth, Max pairs up with classmate and aspiring journalist Sam to investigate what really happened that night. But not everyone in the community wants that night to be remembered. When the local authorities run out of leads, Max realizes that without his help, they may never know what really happened to Will. Knowing isn’t going to make Joey talk to him again, or bring Will out of his coma. Max doesn’t remember what happened after he left his friends Will and Joey and the older kids who took them there. Max wishes he could go back in time to before he was diagnosed with ADHD, before he grew to be the tallest kid in his class, and before he and his best friends went into the woods in the middle of the night. A moving, voice-driven novel about friendship, responsibility, and fighting against unfair expectations, for fans of Rebecca Stead and Erin Entrada Kelly.

Counting thyme by melanie conklin