Preview of Song of the Magdalene Summary:

Song of the Magdalene is Napoli's first young adult novel that uses the Bible as its source. Set in first-century Palestine, it recounts the adolescent years of Miriam, daughter of a prosperous and highly respected Magdala widower, and her struggle to remain true to her own ideals and passionate personality while trying to conform to the role of proper Jewess in a restrictive religious society whose stringent traditions hamper her every activity. The person with whom she had most in common is Abraham, the crippled son of the family's servant Hannah, who although bound by his paralysis, is free to think, read, and reason within the broken shell of his body.

It is Abraham who teaches Miriam to read and sing, who encourages her to grow intellectually and spiritually. The onset of her own seizures fills her with fear that she may be beset by unclean demons, but...