The Unfinished Corner

by Dani Colman (Author) Rachel Tuna Petrovicz (Illustrator)

The Unfinished Corner
Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade
Twelve-year-old Miriam doesn't know much about Jewish mythology. She's not even sure she wants to be Jewish. So, imagine her confusion when a peculiar angel whisks her off to finish the mythological Unfinished Corner, a place full of monsters and mystery. TWELVE-YEAR-OLD MIRIAM IS FULL OF QUESTIONS, BUT THE WHOLE UNIVERSE IS COUNTING ON HER FOR ANSWERS. Jewish mythology has it that when God created the universe, one corner of it was left unfinished. Opinion is divided on why, but everyone agrees that the Unfinished Corner is a dangerous place full of monsters. Twelve-year-old Miriam neither knows nor cares about the Unfinished Corner. She's too busy preparing for her Bat Mitzvah, wrestling with whether she even wants to be Jewish--until a peculiar angel appears, whisking her, her two best friends, and her worst frenemy off to this monstrous land with one mission: finish the Unfinished Corner. An original graphic novel.
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Publishers Weekly

In this plot-driven story grounded in Jewish history, 12-year-old aspiring artist Miriam Feigenbaum, who is light-skinned and Jewish, inherits the biblical task of flushing evil from the world by completing the Unfinished Corner, a part of the universe that God left undone during creation. Heading to Washington five days before her Bat Mitzvah, Miriam and her friends--studious and devout Avi Feuerstein, compassionate David Faroukh, and confident Judith Espinoza, all winners of their Jewish school's art contest--encounter a succession of Old Testament figures when the angel Ma'alchiel tasks the group with finding the biblical Moses's sister, Miriam. Though the stops along Colman's journey become repetitive, serving primarily as a vehicle to explore Jewish history, moving moments--particularly one when a distraught Avi asks why a mythical being didn't stop the Holocaust--more than compensate. Artist Petrovicz's angular linework portrays the ethnically diverse group in a variety of environments--synagogues, barren wastelands--and colorist Whitney Cogar's work bursts with luminescence at key, dramatic moments. Individual characters and the depth of their bonds carry the story forward, the historical content punctuated by moments of sincere hilarity. Ages 8-13. (Oct.)

Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"A charming adventure filled with memorable characters and a fresh point of view." —Hope Larson "Illustrator - A Wrinkle in Time graphic novel"
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781638490111
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Wonderbound
Publication date
October 19, 2021
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
JUV033020 - Juvenile Fiction | Religious | Jewish
JUV008070 - Juvenile Fiction | Comics & Graphic Novels | Fairy Tales, Folklore, Legends & Mythology
JUV008080 - Juvenile Fiction | Comics & Graphic Novels | Fantasy
Library of Congress categories
Graphic novels
Comics (Graphic works)
Jewish mythology

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