Maya's Race Car Brain: Understanding Your Amazing ADHD Mind (My Brain Works Differently) - Softcover

Wu, Nathan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1967513082 ISBN 13: 9781967513086

Publisher: Village Center Inc., The, 2025

Synopsis

Big ideas. Tricky moments. A brain worth understanding.

Nine-year-old Maya has enough ideas to fill a racetrack. Keeping track of her lunch spoon? That’s another story.

In Maya’s Race Car Brain: Understanding Your Amazing ADHD Mind, a creative young inventor begins learning about ADHD—and discovering what helps her navigate school, friendships, and everyday life.

With her purple glasses, a notebook full of observations, and plenty of questions, Maya becomes a Brain Detective. She tries new strategies, asks for support, and learns that a tool that works for her might not work for someone else.

But when her oversized display crushes a classmate’s paper bridge, Maya faces a challenge no invention can solve for her: listening, making amends, and leaving room for other people’s ideas.

A warm, illustrated story for ages 7–11

Through humor, friendship, and imperfect attempts, readers follow Maya as she learns to:

• Find words for what feels difficult and ask trusted adults for help.

• Try practical supports for getting started, remembering, and taking breaks.

• Navigate friendship misunderstandings and an unexpected sleepover challenge.

• Notice other people’s needs while expressing her own.

• Understand that needing support does not make her less capable—or less worthy of belonging.

Inside the book

• Nine story chapters and an epilogue.

• Sixteen full-page, full-color illustrations.

• Everyday examples of asking for help and trying different approaches.

• Resources for young readers and families.

• A preview of Sofia’s Superpower.

Written for independent or shared reading, this story offers families and educators a starting point for conversations about ADHD, friendship, and different ways of learning.

Maya doesn’t become a different person. She begins to understand herself—and discovers she doesn’t have to figure everything out alone.

By Nathan Wu-Falkenborg
Published by The Village Alliance
Part of the My Brain Works Differently series.

Keywords: ADHD books for kids, ADHD children's books, neurodiversity, self-advocacy, learning differences, ADHD diagnosis, executive function, focus issues, attention deficit, hyperactivity, special education, 504 plan, IEP, brain differences, different learners, ADHD superpower, understanding ADHD, explaining ADHD to child, ADHD resources, sensory processing, fidget tools, movement breaks, inclusive education, disability advocacy, twice exceptional, 2e kids, learning disabilities, classroom accommodations, ADHD strategies

Edition details

• Publisher: Village Center Inc., The
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1967513082
• ISBN 13: 9781967513086
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 82