If you liked Choose Your Own Adventure books, then read Inheritance!
If you loved the Choose Your Own Adventure books when you were a kid, check out Inheritance: a pick-the-path experience by Daniel Arnold, Medina Hahn, and Darrell Dennis. Here, the whimsical format of the Choose Your Own Adventure series is utilized in service of nuanced concepts for your grown-up enjoyment. This boundary-breaking pick-the-path play asks readers to dictate how a land dispute unfolds between a settler couple heading to a family cottage and the Indigenous man they find residing there. It is revealed that the colonial rights to this entire property are up for grabs, and you must continue to decide how the story unfolds, determining how the land will be stewarded, and by whom.
A finalist for the 2022 Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama, Inheritance allows its readers agency in grappling with an emotionally complex situation, insisting on accountability, engagement, and critical thinking while doling out thrills, laughs, and learning. Follow twists, turns, and page flips to rumble with a deeply relevant real-world issue in Inheritance.
Read an Excerpt From the Play
NOAH: This is SO good! Isn’t this good?
ABBEY: Mm-hm.
NOAH: I’ve never had rabbit before. Maybe cuz they’re so cute.
(To his bowl) I’m sorry, little guys. But you’re so good!
FRANK: Veggies and spices from the garden, too.
NOAH: Wow. Yeah. Love that. (sing-songish) Organic! Thanks, man.
FRANK: Thank the Creator.
NOAH: … Cool. Yeah. Hey, our drinks are probably cold now, anyone want?
FRANK and ABBEY indicate no.
NOAH: Okay then, drinkin’ alone.
NOAH goes off.
FRANK: So yeah – as I was saying – last year I was scoping around for work, got to talking with your dad. First he brought me on just to fix a fence, but then trying to smooth out that damn road, haul off some old equipment –
ABBEY: That was you? He mentioned he had some guy cleaning up the property, but …
FRANK: “Some guy.” Y’know, he never said much about you, either.
Anyway – after a while we started … talking about the land. What could be done with it. What should be done with it.
ABBEY looks up. NOAH re-enters, sipping another Hey Y’all.
ABBEY: What do you mean?
FRANK: How it could be … put to use. He was wondering what to do with it.
ABBEY: Wait, my dad told you about the plans, right?
NOAH: Uhhhh, sure no one wants a drink? Hey Y’all Vodka with Southern Iced Tea, real good. You wanna try?
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Thank you to Talonbooks for sharing Inheritance with us! Find a copy here on All Lit Up, or from your local independent bookseller.
