Famous Mistakes

Written by Carolyn Keene

Part of the Nancy Drew Diaries series

A comedian's notebook vanishes, sparking a mystery. Can Nancy uncover the saboteur before it's too late?

5.0/7 Bookroo expert·3.9/5 Goodreads · 772 ratings

176 pages· 27,476 words· Est. 4 hour read

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Bookroo's summary

Nancy Drew faces a new mystery when comedian Brady Owens' hotel room is trashed and his notebook of jokes disappears. With protests against Brady's viral outburst mounting, Nancy, alongside her friends Bess, George, and boyfriend Ned, dives into a tangled web of social media intrigue and hidden motives. As they navigate River Heights, Nancy must determine if Brady's critics are behind the sabotage or if there's a deeper plot at play. Can she solve the case and help Brady before his career is permanently derailed?

From the publisher

Nancy and her friends are out to find a comedian’s saboteur in this seventeenth book of the Nancy Drew Diaries, a fresh approach to the classic mystery series.

Nancy’s boyfriend, Ned, has recently started his own podcast called NedTalks and he just got his big break. Up and coming comedian Brady Owens has agreed to sit down for an interview. And this isn’t just any interview; it’s the first interview Brady has given since a video of him lashing out at an audience member went viral. Now people are protesting his shows and calling him violent.

Nancy agrees to help out with the technical stuff so Ned can focus on the hard-hitting questions. But when they go to meet the interviewee they find Brady’s hotel room trashed—and no comedian in sight. Luckily, they find Brady unhurt and nothing of monetary value is missing from the room. Only his notebook of new material is gone. Brady says he knows it’s the people who’ve seen the video of him yelling. They think he’s dangerous and doesn’t deserve a platform. He wishes it would all blow over.

Nancy disagrees with Brady. She thinks he should apologize to the crowd and admit that he crossed a line. But she recognizes a person in need of help when she sees one and agrees to get to the bottom of this sabotage anyway.

Complex social media charts, undercover outfits, and intense button study send Nancy, Bess, George, and Ned on a wild ride through River Heights to uncover the truth. But nothing is what it seems in this game of comedic timing. Can Nancy find the culprit before it’s too late?

At a glance

Format
Pages: 176
Words: 27,476
Reading age: 8–12
Audience: Middle Grade
Lexile: ~750L

Themes & topics

Books about detectives Books about girls and women Books about comedians Books about sabotage

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Talk about it together

Throughout the story and Nancy’s sleuthing (along with the help of her friends), their main suspect changes as the case develops. Who did you think was the culprit at the beginning of the story, and how did your ideas change as the story progressed?

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