Your Choice

I found some of my old Choose Your Own Adventure books. Good to know they’re still pretty intact, probably untouched for about two decades in that old shelf. My favorite was “House of Danger,” which has a geeky, white, freckled teen adventurer. I didn’t pay much attention to those details before; as a kid, I just automatically accepted the male persona, because I knew that other Choose Your Own Adventure books had female perspectives.

Reading it now, I’m discovering that they really are for younger readers, in the sense that grown-up me isn’t as “adventurous.” While my younger self chose without truly thinking about the possible consequences--and choosing the more dangerous routes often led to more exciting stories--I now choose the more sensible, smarter options. When I “played” it a few times last week, I approached most situations in that book with skepticism and caution. I did read where the other choices led after my adventures ended, just to see how differently things went.

It’s cool that some details were entirely and deliberately different. The truth behind a character’s identity in “House of Danger” changes from tale to tale. The primary mystery story can shift into science fiction, crime, or horror stories, depending on the choices the reader made. Those well-drawn black and white illustrations also accompanied the stories nicely, and made certain descriptions clearer.

I’m glad that these books are being reprinted, albeit with different covers, according to the CYOA Facebook page. Anyway, I found a funny parody image posted on Tumblr. Behold.