Customer Reviews

The Exiles of Crocodile Island (ArtScroll Youth)

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An awesome and moving fictionalized account of the Jewish children abducted from Portugal by the church, and sent to colonize the island of Sao Tome, and become christians. The book describes the desperate attempt of the children to hold on to the religion of their parents. The fictionalized account of the children's struggle is backed by historical evidence. I have heard there are residents of Sao Tome to this day who still identify their Jewish ancestry.

The Exiles of Crocodile Island is a fictional account based on true events. A group of Spanish Jewish children are forcibly taken from their parents and exiled to an island where there are priests hoping to convert the children to Christianity. The story of children being exiled to Sao Tome but the actual charecters are not. On the island the children are forced to grow up and resists the friars attempts to convert them. But when the children's leader suffers from a crippling accident and must escape the island with his sister Rina, everyone is thrown is turmoil. They appoint Yosef as their new leader and the learned Saadya is appointed as their rabbi.
Rina and her brother are adopted by a Jewish family in Italy while Rina adjusts beautifully, her brother has trouble coming to terms with his handicap. His former aristocratic appearance is marred by his scars and noticable limp.
Years pass and the children grow up, Yosef marries and begins a family. The 'rabbi' Saadya begins to suffer from debilitating headaches and nightmares and his mental health is compromised. He feels imprisoned on the island and must leave.
The friars agree to allow Saadya to leave but with one condition- Yosef must stay behind with his new wife and infant son.
I won't give away anymore but it suffices to say that this is a book you'll want to read again and again.