The Gallery of Unfinished Girls

HarperTeen / HarperCollins

A Junior Library Guild Selection - An ALA Rainbow List Honoree

A beautiful and evocative look at identity and creativity, The Gallery of Unfinished Girls is a stunning debut in magical realism. Perfect for fans of The Walls Around Us and Bone Gap.

Mercedes Moreno is an artist. At least, she thinks she could be, even though she hasn’t been able to paint anything worthwhile in the past year.

Her lack of inspiration might be because her abuela is in a coma. Or the fact that Mercedes is in love with her best friend, Victoria, but is too afraid to admit her true feelings.

Despite Mercedes’s creative block, art starts to show up in unexpected ways. A piano appears on her front lawn one morning, and a mysterious new neighbor invites Mercedes to paint with her at the Red Mangrove Estate.

At the Estate, Mercedes can create in ways she hasn’t ever before. But Mercedes can’t take anything out of the Estate, including her new-found clarity. Mercedes can’t live both lives forever, and ultimately she must choose between this perfect world of art and truth and a much messier reality.

“A dreamy and subtle work of art, The Gallery of Unfinished Girls explores love, family, and the maddening, magical drive to create art.”

— Adi Alsaid, author of Let's Get Lost

"[A] great title that tackles death, love, creativity, growing up, and moving on."

— School Library Journal

"A bold debut... Mercedes emerges as a fiercely independent female protagonist."

— Booklist

“Francesca Lia Block fans will be right at home with this mix of magical realism, girl power self-actualization, and the concept that family can be both biological and found, and they’ll likely keep an eye out to see what this debut author will do next.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“The novel’s mix of self-discovery, art making, and the unknown should resonate with fans of A.S. King’s work.” — Publishers Weekly