By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO, Calif.—After being abandoned by her single mother, Jerry retreats into the safety of silence where she remains until she is united as a 14-year-old with her 94-year-old great-great aunt Constanza, who is one of the best bakers in all of New Mexico.

The great-great aunt has a number of unusual customs.  For example, before baking she breaks off a piece of the dough and allows it to be consumed by the fire.  Also, she never sweeps dirt from her house out the front door.  Instead she sweeps the dirt to the center of the house and then picks it up in a dust bin for being carried out.  And, Jerry notices, Friday night dinners are different from all others—the table is set with linen, the good dishes are used, and before the meal, her great-great aunt lights candles. 

When she asks Constanza why she does these things, the great-great aunt replies that she is following in the ways of her family—superstitions, she supposes, but customs which they always have followed  Being a Catholic of mixed European and Mexican Indian ancestry, Great-Great Aunt Constanza supposes that perhaps these are customs on her Indian side.

When Jerry explores the cellar of Constanza's home, she finds a trunk.  Intrigued, she examines its content.  Perhaps because of her "elective mutism"—that is, self-imposed silence lasting for years—Jerry has some well developed extra sensory abilities.  Each item in the trunk causes her to have a vision about the ancestor in whose life the item was important.  The visions take her back to the times in Spain when Jews were persecuted, burned at the stake, and eventually, as a group, expelled from Spain.  They take her to the times in New Spain when "New Christians"—that is Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity—were treated as second-class persons by Old Christians. 

One way Old Christians documented their status was with certificates testifying  that their family had been Christians "by blood" for  at least a century.

Jerry eventually realizes that she and her great-great aunt are descended from Jews.  During this process of discovery, she learns the meaning behind Constanza's customs. The candle lighting and special dinner on Friday night, of course, are traditions passed down from Shabbat dinners.   Not sweeping dirt out the front door, according to this account, was attributed to not wanting dirt to waft past the mezuzah on the door post.  Personally, I have heard that the secret Jews were afraid to be seen cleaning their houses lest witnesses conclude the sweepers were readying themselves for Shabbat.  Having some of the dough consumed by fire was a vestige of sacrificing a portion of one's bountyl for God's use—a tithe.

Besides finding a new religious orientation as a result of her extra-sensory experiences, Jerry also receives from her great-great aunt the love denied to her as a child.  Finally feeling herself safe and loved by a family member, she begins to heal from her abandonment as a child.

Intended for teen-age readers, particularly girls, this book should prove challenging and worthwhile reading,   In my opinion, the book has one glaring omission—it fails to distinguish between the Catholic Church  of the Middle Ages, and the modern church which confesses its past sins toward the Jews, and has maintained close relationships with the leadership of the  Jewish community.