Fitting Out: The Friendship Experiment

What do you do if you want to make new friends but aren’t sure how? Max McConk is almost 10, and Miguel, his best friend of seven years, has just moved away the summer before fourth grade. Since Miguel was outgoing, Max’s shyness wasn’t a problem, but now Max must take the initiative to find new buddies. A self-professed nerd with a love for reading and rhyming, Max suspects making new friends won’t be easy (“But this is the way I have always been: one in a million”). Max understands science better than people, so he decides to employ the scientific method to solve his pal problem. After he tests several misguided hypotheses and his mom shares a prudent lesson, determined and resilient Max makes a breakthrough. Themes of being true to oneself, keeping on trying, and learning from failures resonate in the conclusion of Max’s experiment. Though the story is somewhat disjointed, with occasionally distracting footnotes, lighthearted illustrations and Max’s quirky personality shine; readers will root for him to succeed in a tale that reinforces classic life lessons. Ages 7–11. (Self-published.)