A review by mjcosgrove
Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis

5.0

I’m not sure what to make of Timmy Failure. When I first started reading this aloud to my son, I thought it had a taste of Wimpy Kid to it, though not quite as funny. But then Pastis let the clues trickle out that show you that Timmy is clearly living in his own world and that people around him are making the best of the situation around them. He lives only with his mom, and money is tight, to the point where they have to move to a smaller, more affordable place. He has very negative assessments of almost everyone in his life, and he misunderstands everyone and their motivations. So I think that can probably just be chalked up to a self-centered childhood.

But then I’m not sure what to make of him when it comes to his school work. Does he have a learning disability? Or does he just need to be reached in a different way? The new teacher introduced toward the end of the book would seem to indicate the latter. In the end though, I’m still kind of left wondering if there are deeper psychological problems Timmy has that the first book in the series has only just touched on.

I love when books for children address deeper mental health issues like that, and I’m kind of hoping that that’s where this series is going. Not that I wish anything bad on Timmy. He’s got his hands full just coping with everyday life. I guess I’m just saying that I hope he’s more than just a wacky goofball.