Twelve-year-old Mendel’s incapable of doing anything right. When he hugs his mother, he knocks her into the washtub. While setting the table, he lights the table on fire. And when he chops wood, he almost decapitates his sister. Mendel’s mother tells him it isn’t his fault: Years ago, Starface Matja cursed Mendel when his pregnant mother refused to share the last cabbage at the market. But knowing why he’s Mendel the Mess-Up doesn’t make it any easier to bear. Now the Cossacks are coming. If they destroy the village, it will be Mendel’s fault, but the only weapon he has is his greatest weakness. Simple, entertaining cartoons bring Mendel’s adventure to life. An author’s note speaks to an attempt to render a historically inspired invented setting, a shtetl in a fictional Eastern European country. While some silly touches amuse (a happy goat grins as he trots on a machine designed to collect goat sweat), others (like the shtetl with the linguistically improbable name “Lintvint”) are disconcerting. Despite the comedic art style, the stakes can be surprisingly high; panels, sometimes unexpectedly, rocket from lighthearted to grim to inspirational. All characters are depicted with the same shades of peachy skin; Jewish characters are differentiated from the Cossacks primarily by hairstyle and clothing.
