Mistakes Were Made

The Timmy Failure series is a series of seven middle grade books published between 2013 and 2020, written and illustrated by Stephan Pastis. The first six books follow a sequential order, while the seventh, Zero to Hero, is a prequel that takes place before Mistakes Were Made. Each book in the Timmy Failure series features Timmy as the protagonist and detective, who runs his infamous detective agency with his imaginary polar bear friend, Total. Despite his best efforts, Timmy fails to learn the ways of being a detective and does things in his own way instead, an approach that often leads to him missing important clues and coming to false conclusions. Timmy also navigates the challenges of having a rival detective and nemesis, Corrina Corrina.

The Timmy Failure series explores the dichotomy between childhood imagination and reality, and the fine line that Timmy toes between these two worlds. Timmy slowly figures out that Being Oneself While Being Open to Improving can be beneficial for both him and his business, but it takes dozens of mistakes for him to really catch on. His flaws remain, including his distaste for change, his stubbornness, and his generally clueless nature. Timmy’s situations lean toward the absurd at times, particularly when they involve his imaginary polar bear, but the stories also deal with relatable, real-life issues like managing a low income, living with a single parent, and navigating the changes of growing up. The Timmy Failure series is in conversation with other well-known middle grade illustrated novels such as Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series (including Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Rodrick Rules, and The Deep End) and Lincoln Peirce’s Big Nate series (including Big Nate: In a Class by Himself).