An interesting blend of ADHD, bullying, victimhood, and responsibility. It asks who is to blame for an accident, what is the truth, and how should people respond. It's trying, though not fully successfully, to explore guilt and innocence. There are a lot of half-formed notions and not a lot of solid statements.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I am always looking for stories that represent real life issues for my students. This is a boom that I would absolutely utilize in a small group over our character unit. It does a great job highlighting what it is like to have adhd. I could see so many of my students seeing themselves within the journey of this story.

Max is a tall 11 year old newly diagnosed with ADHD. He is a very likable character and the story will definitely be liked by many middle schoolers.

Max went into the woods with others but fled when a fight began. Now his friend is in a coma and Max needs to find out what happened to his friend.

This story moves quickly enough to keep a middle schoolers attention. It’s good to see a main character with a diagnoses that affects so many youth.

Enjoyable and should be ion all middle school library shelves.

Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown Books for Young Readers for the advanced e-edition of this book in exchange for my honest views.

The summer before sixth grade, Max, Joey and Will are best friends who spend most of their time together. But right before school begins, something happens and Will is hurt and Joey is no longer speaking to Max. Told from Max's POV, this story is told in a way that you get glimpses at what happened, but it comes slowly.
Max, at eleven years old, is already six feet tall. He has ADHD and is seeing a therapist to help him come up with routines to help compensate. However, when his uncle comes to visit, Max realizes that his mom and uncle have issues with each other and that he may know why. He also pairs up with Sam, a girl in his class who wants to be a journalist, to help solve the mystery of what happened to Will and hopefully repair the friendship between him, Joey and Will.
Very realistic and a great story about friendship, ADHD, families and responsibility. Loved it!

A Perfect Mistake is a pitch-perfect middle grade mystery about honesty, peer pressure, and standing up for what’s right. Featuring a tall male protagonist with ADHD, this story also centers neurodiversity and body image issues. It tackles timely issues like toxic masculinity and alcoholism with plenty of heart. Readers who enjoy mysteries or stories about male friendships will enjoy this one.

This is such a beautiful story! And one that resonates with me as a mama of 2 kiddos with adhd, The mystery of what happened is perfectly timed!

'A Perfect Mistake,' by Melanie Conklin is a middle grade story with strong ADHD representation, almost to the point that it distracts from the delightful suspense story.

This was a lovely middle grade mystery with great ADHD rep. 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.

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. Will isn’t awake to provide the answers, and Max wasn’t there when Will’s accident occurred. The friend who was there when Will mysteriously got hurt is suddenly no longer talking to him, and the police’s witness reports don’t seem to quite add up. Max and his classmate Sam—in true cozy mystery fashion—decide to team up, determined to find out what really happened that night.

I was a huge fan of both Max and Sam’s characters. It was easy to root for them to succeed because of how morally-good they both were. Seeing how well they communicated with each other and with those close to them was a nice change from the normal overuse of miscommunication tropes that tend to litter MG and YA novels.

If I had to choose what my favorite part about this novel was, I would have to say it was the portrayal of healthy familial relationships. Max gets along well with his parents and his sister and their family is extremely supportive of each other, especially during adversity. Even when there’s tension between Max’s mom and Max’s uncle (his mom’s bother), both Max and his dad are there to provide helpful insight into how they can improve their flawed relationship. Sam and Luca’s sibling dynamic was also lovely to see. Overall, I really enjoyed how this book seemed to be teaching middle grade readers the importance of open and honest communication.

The time I spent reading this book absolutely flew by. I had figure it would be a relatively quick read but I got so lost in the story that, before I knew it, I was already 200 pages is. It can easily be read in one sitting if you have a decent block of time available.

When I was a kid, I was given a book about a firefly who set fire to an entire forest with her butt, and I'm not sure what the moral was supposed to be, except don't set your butt on fire and run around a forest I guess.

This book is supposed to be a mystery story, unraveling what happened the night that Max's friend Will ended up in a coma, and now all Max's friends seem to be keeping secrets from him. But instead I felt like I was reading a manual about ADHD.

This book really tried to cover every aspect of ADHD to the point where it became smothering and distracted away from the actual mystery story. I felt that Max's parents were overbearing and if he as much as experienced an emotion they were trying to book him in to see a therapist within the hour.

The mystery itself wasn't really interesting enough to improve the story either. You get most of what happened by the middle of the book, and there's a minor twist at the end, but I'd stopped really caring about putting the final pieces together by then and just read it to finish it.

This is a slow burn in middle grade form. It certainly is an easy, quick read, & I enjoyed the suspense of it. I also really liked the ADHD perspective of this book as a lot of it is all too familiar in the dealings with my daughter, which has opened up some great conversations with her & how she experiences it. Overall, it is a great book for all ages.

Thank you to Netgalley, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and TBR Tours and Beyond.

I absolutely loved the ADHD rep in this book. This is a well written book and suspenseful a story. A Perfect Mistake is certainly the type of book I wish I had available to me when I was in school. I hope this book helps shine light on what is like to live with ADHD. Thank you to Melanie Conklin for writing such a beautiful middle grade novel.

I’d like to start by saying I have not heard of this author, as her 3 books focus on pre-teen and teens. I chose this book solely for my son (9 going on 13) who is borderline ADHD but also because he loves mysteries and this sounded right up his alley. We read this book together.

4.5⭐️
This book has phenomenal representation!! My son felt seen and understood our protagonist’s at-times, complex emotions and actions. Max has ADHD and he’s also the tallest kid in the class. Either label by itself can be daunting to a kid at school…but to be both is down right miserable for his self esteem. Sometimes Max just wants to crawl under the table. Pile on top of that, his best friend Joey isn’t speaking to him and he doesn’t know why. We find out very early on that Will, another friend of his, is in the hospital. He feels like it’s his fault but at the same time can’t remember what happened after a bunch of them went into the woods one night. And then to keep piling it on, his home life is complicated, too—his smarty pants sister is just floating along with life, his mother’s troublemaker brother came to town and their troubled relationship puts a strain on the family…and his dad is busy with a big pitch he has to make to a company…Max just needs to focus right now but the world around his has become really noisy.

When the police start questioning local families about Will’s predicament, but aren’t getting anywhere with mixed stories, Max feels so helpless. So he teams up with his friend Sam and they take it upon themselves to figure the mystery out. Along the way, Cal (his mom’s brother) becomes a sort of mentor to Max and is an excellent supporting character, helping him in more interpersonal ways. Max recognizes things about his uncle that even his mother didn’t see and develops a wonderful relationship with him. Sam is also a perfect friend for Max, as she keeps him focused on the tasks at hand. As they get closer to the truth, more trouble arises, more questions need answering and the author does an excellent job of keeping you guessing for quite a while… Just when you thought you had it figured out. (And this happened for us on more than 2 occasions, we kept saying, “but WHAT happened to Will?!?”

Overall, this was a well thought out mystery for this age group. The representation was top notch, realizations were recognized thoughtfully, lessons and morals are learned, and you have to wait patiently for the HEA to be revealed.
I took .5 stars off just for the simple fact as an adult, the reveal felt a bit like I was watching Scooby Doo, “if it wasn’t for those pesky kids…” Also, some of the story felt a tad long or drawn out. Otherwise, well done!

*Of Note — I want to apologize to the author and publisher as my son and I finished this book in early June, long enough before the pub date. All I can say is, summer break got the best of me and I just now realized I never reviewed it!
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Perfect Mistake is the book I needed 40 years ago when growing up knowing that in people's eyes because of starting Puberty early and having Disabled Parents I was not one of them. If I had something like this I would of realised that it is okay to be different.

Our main character is Max who not only is already as tall as his dad but also has ADHD to handle which is a lot for an 11 year old. Then there is this event that changes things and we learn about his interactions with his family and those at School I did love the growing relationship between Cal and Max it was a beautiful sight to see as they both got each other.

I would also like to have seen more of Sam she was a hoot with her strange words like funcle instead of uncle.

Again Melanie turned me into another snot fest and again it was not pretty all I know is that this book will stay with me for such a long time and so I had to give A Perfect Mistake 5 stars and will be reading more from Melanie

Overall

I’m always on the lookout for good books featuring characters that have ADHD, so when this one popped up, I knew I had to read it! Not only does Max feel familiar as a character (I was also a too-tall 11-year-old with ADHD), but I was super curious about that mystery!

A Perfect Mistake is a heartwarming story of a too-tall boy with ADHD and a gap in his memory that may hold the key to what happened to his best friend. It’s a tale of mistakes, of healing, and of discovering what it really means to be a friend.

I think the cover and title on this one are a little bit misleading, since they don’t really give a good feel of what the book’s about. Then again, I’m not exactly sure what title and cover would, so maybe it’s just a facet of the book. The mystery itself is interesting and compelling and had me wanting to read more just to see what actually happened. Where the book really shines, though, is with Max as a character and depicting his struggles with his height, with ADHD, and just with growing into the person he wants to be in general.

My Thoughts

- 11-year-old is a very compelling, relatable character. He’s too tall for his age, learning to manage his ADHD, and still trying to figure out what it means to be a good friend. The ADHD rep in this book is amazing. Max is more than his diagnosis, of course, but having inattentive ADHD still plays a significant role in his life. I mean, how could it not, considering the story is from his perspective? Through the narrative, Max talks about some of the coping mechanisms he’s been taught and some of the ways his ADHD affects his classwork, including mention of having a 504 plan.

What I thought was really interesting is that Max is very tall for his age. Which you may not think is a problem, but of course, because he’s big, people forget that Max is only 11 and expect him to act older than he is. Because he looks older. This is something that so many people struggle with in real life, and I’ve seen it happen too often. Kids look older so they’re expected to be more mature than their smaller peers, despite being the same age. This is something that I don’t see often in fiction, especially not middle grade fiction, so it was great to see that sort of rep!

Overall, though, I just really liked Max. He was honest and earnest. Yes, he makes mistakes, but what 11-year-old doesn’t? Heck, I make at least three every day before I even leave the house. Sometimes while I’m leaving the house, because I’m that talented. Max is definitely a character that middle grade readers will be able to relate to.

- Five kids went into the woods, but only four came back . . . and one ended up in a coma. Max was there that night, but he has no idea what happened to his best friend. But he’s determined to find out. This is an extremely compelling mystery. Mostly because no one knows what happened to Will, except that he was found in the morning in a coma. Well, that’s not quite true, is it? Someone knows what happened. Not Max, though. Not yet.

Since Max doesn’t actually know what what happened, the reader gets to retrace everything that happened that night along with the protagonist, which is a pretty good way to do it. I was absolutely hooked on this mystery and super curious about what had happened! The reveal of what actually happened was just a tad bit underwhelming, but I think it fits with the overall narrative and the age group all the same.

- Max doesn’t know much about friendship, but he’s sure he hasn’t been a very good friend. But as he makes new friends, namely with a girl named Sam, he starts to realize some things he thought he already knew. Sam is basically the antithesis to Max: she has plenty of friends, fits in well, and is fairly self-assured. She knows exactly what she wants in life (namely, to be a journalist) and how she’s going to get there (you know, by doing the hard things and digging to uncover the truth). Max doesn’t necessarily want to be friends with Sam, but when Sam knows what she wants, she goes after it relentlessly. I’m pretty sure that’s just a Sam thing. And I would know, right? 😉

I really appreciated the character growth in this. Friendship is hard, especially when you’re 11 and things don’t go exactly the way you plan. People grow apart and things happen. Max is starting to realize that some of the things he took as a given, like how solid his friendship with Joey and Will was, may not have actually been true. And he’s not exactly innocent in it all, even though he’s also not necessarily to blame. This story takes a deep look at how misunderstandings arise and how friends can drift apart without even realizing it, and stresses the need to understand other people’s perspectives. Which is always a great message for middle grade readers!

- There are a lot of BIG conversations in this book around mistakes, forgiveness, and what it means to be really be a friend. There’s the big, overarching story going on in the town about Will, for starters. Max can’t handle visiting his best friend in the hospital, knowing that he didn’t help him. He harbors a lot of guilt around not being there when Will obviously needed him, and he’s not quite ready to face it yet. Fair enough.

It’s more than just that, though. Max’s estranged uncle shows up out of nowhere, and it’s clear that there’s some tension in the family. Max’s mother isn’t exactly thrilled to see her brother, and there’s a lot of history there that Max doesn’t quite understand. His uncle isn’t the traditional sort, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of things Max can learn from him. If only his mother were willing to give him the chance.

There are some big conversations about family and friendship and second chances that is perfect for middle grade readers. The sort that fits neatly and cleanly into the narrative without the book being about these things.

Sticking Points

- A lot of emphasis was placed on it being Max’s responsibility to take care of his friends, to the point where people were mad at him for not doing so, but . . . that narrative really doesn’t make all that much sense? It’s such a small thing to pay attention to, and I doubt middle grade readers would notice, but since it came up multiple times, it really irked me! People were legit mad at Max for not looking after Will. You know, Max, the 11-year-old.

The narrative is meant to be that since he’s big for his age, he’s supposed to have more responsibility and people are treating him as more adult. Which okay, yes, that’s fair. I grew up with a lot of people who looked older than they were, myself included. Even my husband. This narrative would make perfect sense . . . if it weren’t for the small-town setting where everyone had known Max and his friends since they were little and were well aware of how old (or, in this case, young) Max was.

It also makes even less since when it becomes obvious that there actually were older kids (16-year-olds, in fact) with the younger boys. Yet, no one seems to be mad at them for not looking out for the younger kids? I knoooow it’s such a small thing, but every time it came up it bugged me that everyone blames Max for what happens to Will when there’s really not anything at all to support this narrative other than he’s taller than his friends.

This is a Middle Grade Mystery. I loved the main character in this book. I loved the ADHD parts of this book. I really loved this mystery in this book. This book did a great job with the family drama and the mystery in this book. This book keeps me wanting to finish it, and I loved all the messages in this book. I really enjoyed this book, and I think it is a great middle grade book. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) or author (Melanie Conklin) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Thanks to Netgalley and Little Brown Books for Young Readers for the ARC of this!

I was diagnosed as an adult with ADHD (which explains a whole lot) after researching about my child - so I have definitely been on the lookout for middle grade books with ADHD rep to suggest to her. I really liked the mystery aspect of this, and the pacing seemed really good. It kept me engaged the whole time and I will be recommending it to my daughter for sure.

My son and I really enjoyed this story! Max is an easy character for the kids to like and find common ground with. It has a nice adventure that keeps you turning the pages. Max's family isn't perfect but the issues they face are really and what a lot of families deal with. There were a lot of great messages for the kids! Overall it's a great middle grade mystery read! Thank you TBR and Beyond Tours, Melanie Conklin and Little Brown Young Readers for sharing this book with me and my son!

This middle grade mystery is filled with heart.

One night, three friends went into the woods. When Max got scared and ran, he had no idea something awful was going to happen to his friend Will. Now Will's unconscious and Joey's not speaking to him. The more Max hears, the more everyone's stories don't add up. He begins digging, pushing to uncover the truth, no matter what the consequences.

The mystery provides tension without getting too dark. While Max's family has their struggles, they also provide loving if quirky adult characters. Max's dad uses the family as test subjects for his spicy granola ideas, while Max's uncle Cal drops by to live in his van in the driveway. Each relationship helps Max come to some realizations about himself and the world.

This book provides valuable representation for kids with ADHD. The insights into Max's thoughts, worldview and challenges will resonate with many kids. While Max sometimes struggles to fit into a world that isn't built for him, and his therapist provides coping mechanisms to help him succeed, the book never looks down on him for his differences. Instead, it shows Max finding valuable friendships with people who accept him just the way he is. Max also identifies an adult in his life who possibly has undiagnosed ADHD.

In the end, it turns out Max was the perfect person to find out what happened to Will that night. 

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and TBR & Beyond Tours for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Nothing bad ever happens in the town of Oakwood, New Jersey—so when something bad does happen, everyone is understandably on edge. Just before the start of the school year, Max Greenberg and his friends broke the rules and visited a forbidden site in the middle of the night, leaving Max’s friend Will in a medically induced coma. But Max is not able to recall exactly what happened, and neither Will nor anyone else is talking. As Max struggles to come to terms with both what happened and its aftermath, he must balance his own ADHD with the myriad events taking place around him. Through patience, perseverance, and learning to forgive himself, Max becomes stronger and more mature while discovering the truth about his friend’s injury.

This intriguing contemporary fiction novel begins with a mystery that is only revealed in pieces as the story progresses. Will is in the hospital already, and readers make the journey along with Max as he works to remember exactly what happened that fateful night. Since it is written in the first person, this book gives a clear look into Max’s mind through his ADHD; the plot jumps around frequently, and readers must pay close attention to interlock the puzzle pieces as they appear. Max’s feelings are palpable, especially as he feels ostracized by his community due to his towering height, his ADHD, and his involvement in Will’s accident. Max’s honesty throughout the story is refreshing, and readers will grow a deep sense of compassion for Max from the very first pages.

Middle grade readers will empathize with many of Max’s struggles, even if they do not find themselves in the exact same circumstances. Feeling apart from others is common in sixth grade, and Max models positive ways of working through the challenges he faces. Though he is not perfect, Max finds people he can trust to help him, and he has developed tools to mitigate the complicated feelings he manages every day. There is no shame in any of Max’s actions, and readers will hopefully discover ways to accept themselves more openly after reading Max’s story. Unique in its design, this book is one that will connect with a wide range of middle grade readers and will help them better understand their classmates and companions in the process. This is an important addition to middle grade library collections.