Mendel the Mess-Up

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.

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 professor at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts where he teaches graphic narrative. He is a member of the National Cartoonists Society.