For many of those born in the late '70s and early '80s, the best young adult literature was written in second person, regularly involved the supernatural and sometimes led to its reader's metaphysical death.
We are, of course, talking about the Choose Your Own Adventure franchise published by Bantam Books between 1979 and 1998. During that span, the series sold more than 250 million copies, and the books were translated into at least 38 different languages. But more importantly, they taught kids everywhere important lessons about things like the stresses of time travel, interaction with aliens and the pure evil that lies in the heart of the Russian people.
Seeing as it's National Young Readers Week, we thought it appropriate to revisit CYOA by counting down the series' top 20 classic titles, with help from our friends at Gamebooks.org. Just be aware -- by clicking on the gallery below, you accept a nostalgic trip back to your childhood, an adventure full of mystery, child-appropriate intrigue and frequent confrontations with implausibility.
Classic Choose Your Own Adventures
20. Your Code Name is Jonah This Cold War tale of secret agents has you right in the mix as American and Russian spooks try to unlock the mysteries of a secret whale song. Go to the next slide to find out what's cooler than the soothing mating calls of whales being associated with espionage.
Gamebooks.org
19. The Cave of Time This first book in the series takes you on a time travel epic from the Ice Age to 3700 AD, courtesy of series creator Edward Packard. Go to the next slide to find out what's cooler than battling dinosaurs, then later partying with robots.
Gamebooks.org
18. The Abominable Snowman Frequent series contributor R.A. Montgomery penned this story about your search for the elusive Yeti. Go to the next slide to find out what's cooler than trouncing around Nepal looking for hairy snowbeasts.
Gamebooks.org
17. The Deadly Shadow In this espionage story, you must track a dangerous man named Dimitrius, who has the ability to become a shadow thanks to sinister Russian experiments. Go to the next slide to find out what's cooler than more Regan-era Cold War propaganda for kids.
Gamebooks.org
16. Trouble on Planet Earth This story has you investigating why aliens may or may not be stealing the world's oil supply, and most fans of the series describe the plot as completely incoherent. Go to the next slide to find out what's cooler than stories that are so bad they're good.
Gamebooks.org
15. Inside UFO 54-40 In this adventure, you need to escape from aliens who are trying to put you in their zoo. Go to the next slide to find out what's cooler than subtly teaching kids that zoos are oppressive hell holes.
Gamebooks.org
14. The Forbidden Castle This is a sequel to "The Cave of Time," where must solve a riddle in medieval Europe to find a secret, dare we say, forbidden castle. Go to the next slide to find out what's cooler than slaying dragons, while spending your downtime with the local peasant girls.
Gamebooks.org
13. Prisoner of the Ant People Here's the deal: You're part of the Zondo Quest Group II looking to kick the crap out of the Evil Power Master. Fortunately, you've got a buddy that's like R2D2. Go to the next slide to find out what's cooler than battling huge killer anthropomorphic ants.
Gamebooks.org
12. The Magic of the Unicorn You've got to find a way to purify your village's water in the year 1507, and since Brita hasn't been invented, it's going to take a horse with a horn to do it. Technically nothing is cooler than a unicorn, but go to the next slide anyway.
Gamebooks.org
11. The Horror of High Ridge This story has you and your pals Ricardo and Lisa coming face to face with the ghosts of the clashing Indians and settlers of High Ridge. Go to the next slide to find out what's cooler than children's books that recall bloody land disputes.
Gamebooks.org
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Friday 14 November
By Chris
I didn't read many of these as a kid, but by the description of Supercomputer, it seems like the author of this piece didn't really read the books or find a summary (at least not for this one). The supercomputer in the book was not created by the main character; it was received in the mail (purchased as I recall) and arrived very much in the shape of a somewhat fanciful desktop computer. It acquired its robot body later in the book. There were a couple "defects" in that regard too -- you could get to parts of the story where it had the body without passing through the segment describing how it happened.
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Friday 14 November
By MissP81
My favorite didn't make it on the list. It was about a kid who traveled to alternate universes and all I can remember is all food tasted disgusting besides packets of ketchup.
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Friday 14 November
By Meghan
I was a fifth grade teacher last year and my students LOVED reading Choose Your Own Adventure books together at the end of class!
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Monday 24 November
By Auslander
That wasn't a choose your own adventure. That was The Boy Who Reversed Himself; I'm not sure who wrote it. When backward, ketchup was delicious, as the narrator found when she followed him into the fourth dimension and came back turned around.
Friday 14 November
By Reada
I was too old for the later books but I loved the earlier installments. In fact, I still have them somewhere in my place. I think I'll dig them out this weekend. Thanks for the good memories...
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Friday 14 November
By jennyrawks
I used to always get these during school library trips in elementary school. After reading a page, I would write it down so I knew which ones I'd already read. Then I'd keep going back to read all the possible storylines. It was a little tedious but I couldn't return the book without knowing which ending was the best!
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Friday 14 November
By Gmarvelous7
I read CYOA as a kid and loved them. They have been reprinted and we sell them at the very well-known bookstore I work at. I am working on my career as a writer and I want to start off with a series of books similar to CYOA, with some slight differences. Oh, and for any Star Wars fans, they have released books like this based on the Clone Wars.
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Friday 14 November
By Shadow of Roses
Haha, I remember my dad and sister bringing those home from school for being Janitors.In fact Its hard to find a good CYOA now and days other than RL Stine. I basically resort to fanfictions for those now. which is kind of sad. Lol
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Monday 17 November
By Genevieve
OH.MY.GOSH! Looking at those covers brought back so many memories. Mystery of Chimney Rock was my favorite. Even back then I liked the scary stuff, if you can call it that. I even tried writing my own CYOA type books. I was such a dork. Also, I would like to point out that I was born in '73, so does that make me too old to have been reading these?
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Tuesday 18 November
By Laura
I read the CYOA books from third grade to fifth grade and like jennyrawks... I wuld read all the endings to find out which ending suited me best. it was what fuled my passion for writing to this day, so many possibilities. I scrounged up the books when my kids were born, and they learned (they're males) that the same input, cna lead to several different outcomes, with the turn of a comma, or the turn of page. As they've grown up, they've directed their lives into more analytical thinking fields. They shouldreprint these in a set... mine are falling apart, they've only be read a bazillion times...
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Tuesday 18 November
By Andrew
Ok, so I want to know how many of you "cheated" and read both outcomes to see which was better before moving on in the story?
If you read both outcomes before moving on in the story, go to page 172.
If you read only one outcome before moving on, go to page 70.
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Tuesday 18 November
By Andrew
So how many of you "cheated" and read ahead to see what was the outcome of your fate?
If you cheated and read ahead go to page 172.
If you didn't peek at the outcome of your fate, go to page 45.
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Tuesday 18 November
By Andrew
Turning to page 172.
Dang!
Dead again!
"Off to Somo you will go, to sleep for a 1000 years or so." -Inside UFO 54-40
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Tuesday 18 November
By Kevin
What about the Zork Series!? They were awesome :D