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Do-It-Yourself Jewish Adventure
The Cardinal's Snuffbox
An adventure story set during the Spanish Inquisition, in which an eleven-year-old Jewish child must decide whether to convert to Catholicism or leave Spain forever. The reader makes decisions that determine the outcome of the plot.
120 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 1982
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July 22, 2019
This book is such a fun romp! I found it while helping my synagogue clean out some of the Sunday school classrooms. On the ride home, I took a couple paths out loud with my mother.
This is a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure set during the Spanish Inquisition. As a young Jewish boy, you must choose whether to remain Jewish - and escape to somewhere else in the world - or convert to Catholicism and figure out how to navigate within Spain. Be warned - though this book is aimed towards middle school readers, because it is based on the Spanish Inquisition some of the endings can lead to some pretty awful deaths, which may be upsetting to some younger readers. But I think it's a super cool teaching tool for Jewish and world history.
My biggest disappointment in this book is that it has a few bigoted moments. Because it was published in the early '80s, it definitely skews towards racist against some Native and island peoples. There is one ending with "island cannibals" which is, like, kind of out of nowhere and completely inappropriate and incorrect, and paints some Native Peoples as the antagonist in another ending. Also, the book refers to them as "Indians." So... *eye roll*
This is a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure set during the Spanish Inquisition. As a young Jewish boy, you must choose whether to remain Jewish - and escape to somewhere else in the world - or convert to Catholicism and figure out how to navigate within Spain. Be warned - though this book is aimed towards middle school readers, because it is based on the Spanish Inquisition some of the endings can lead to some pretty awful deaths, which may be upsetting to some younger readers. But I think it's a super cool teaching tool for Jewish and world history.
My biggest disappointment in this book is that it has a few bigoted moments. Because it was published in the early '80s, it definitely skews towards racist against some Native and island peoples. There is one ending with "island cannibals" which is, like, kind of out of nowhere and completely inappropriate and incorrect, and paints some Native Peoples as the antagonist in another ending. Also, the book refers to them as "Indians." So... *eye roll*
Displaying 1 of 1 review