Countdown to Danger: Canadian Sabotage
Author: Jeff Szpirglas
Publisher: Scholastic Canada
Will you survive, or will you die? You are making your way along a cliffside path, trying not to fall on the sharp, slippery rocks. Your family trip to the Maritimes has turned into a solo mission to find a mysterious treasure – and danger is lurking around every turn. Suddenly you’re face to face with two massive mutant lobsters grabbing at you with their enormous claws. Do you stay and try to fight the lobsters, or do you run away, taking your chances with the cliff? Thirty minutes. Thirty endings. You choose if you live or die.
What’s more fun than a choose-your-own ending tale? It lets you zip around the book like you’re part of the storytelling: You get a sense of mystery, delight and power. It’s a bunch of stories in one, the reading version of Snakes and Ladders. Better yet, since the narrative is neither first- nor third-person (it’s all YOU), there’s no need to be conscious of whether the main character is male or female. It’s YOU!
“Your eyes snap open and you look around. This can’t be. You’re bobbing in the rough, frigid waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Alone.”
“If you head to the lighthouse, turn to page 24.”
“If you’d rather wait for the speedboat, turn to page 69.”
“If you try the boat just up ahead, turn to page 106.”
(Me? I did each one, of course, in whatever order I wanted to.)
It’s high action, lots of tension and adventure with a capital A. And it’s well written. What else could a reader want?
- PW