Mendel the Mess-Up - by Terry Laban

About the Book

"Mendel has famously bad luck, but his penchant for trouble may be the key to saving his remote Jewish village when the Cossacks invade"--

Book Synopsis

Cursed from birth, Mendel Schlotz is the unluckiest kid in his village.
He's also the only one who can save it.

Ask anyone--twelve-year-old Mendel can't do anything right. When he tries to herd goats, they get out. When he tries to chop wood, he breaks the ax. It's embarrassing to be called "Mendel the Mess Up," but it's worse to be so clumsy that he can't even stand to read aloud without destroying the classroom. Nobody expects Mendel to keep out of trouble... least of all himself.

But when the Cossacks invade Mendel's remote Jewish village of Lintvint (famous for Lintvint kvatch, which is made from a very special ingredient), Mendel's not the only one in trouble. When he slips away from the mountain caves where his fellow villagers are hiding, out of certainty he'll find a way to make things worse if he's around them, he discovers an unexpected opportunity to save the day.

Mendel's always been different because everything he does turns into disaster. Now, he's the only one who can help the people who doubt him.

Could Mendel's bad luck be the key to saving Lintvint? Or will his plan to drive the Cossacks off go as badly as everyone--including him--expects?

Sympathetic, funny, and warm, this fast-paced middle-grade graphic novel from a veteran Jewish comics star reminds young readers who feel just a little out of place in their world that sometimes our weaknesses can be our greatest strengths.

Review Quotes

Balancing action, suspense, and humor, the wonder-filled graphic novel Mendel the Mess-Up is about a boy who faces danger in order to save his family and friends.
--Foreword (starred review)

LaBan (Edge City) skillfully unspools the jokes and fast-paced plot with broad cartooning reminiscent of classic Sunday comics and wraps it up with a triumphant depiction of a quintessential Jewish coming-of-age tradition.
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

LaBan offers a heartfelt, characterful, and exciting lesson in learning to meet our limitations with thoughtful consideration and patience with ourselves, while meaningfully embracing the adjacent concerns of scholarship and empathy. . . It rings perfectly with a story all about mistakes, but filled with so much to love.
--Booklist (starred review)

A coming-of-age fable, humorously told and illustrated.
--Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Terry LaBan is a lifelong comics artist and cartoonist whose work has been published by Fantagraphics, Kitchen Sink, and Dark Horse, and which has appeared in many magazines and comics zines. His syndicated daily comic Edge City ran from 2001 to 2015, appearing in thousands of newspapers nationwide. He is a member of the National Cartoonists Society.