Issue 04
You Are The Star
By Bryan HowellIllustration By Matt Goldman
Before Playstation and Xbox, before the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon and the Kids’ Choice Awards, before Transformers and GI Joes with the kung fu grip, kids didn’t have much say on anything besides the flavor of their ice cream. But it all started to change when a New York attorney got tired of telling the same stories to his kids every night.
In 1969, a 38-year-old Edward Packard devised a unique style of interactive fiction while trying to remedy his children’s (and his own) boredom. Instead of telling stories from beginning to end, he would pause at various points and ask his kids to choose the course of action for the characters. The concept was such a hit in his own household that he figured it would work for others. That year, he wrote Sugarcane Island, a tale of a shipwrecked, marooned character—the reader. Written in the second person, the book was essentially a collection of random events, connected by the reader’s decisions at certain prompts.
Sugarcane Island was eventually picked up in 1974 by a small publishing house, Vermont Crossroads Press, and released in 1976 as the first installment in the Adventures of You series. Two years later, Archway, a paperback division of Simon & Schuster, reprinted Sugarcane Island and R.A. Montgomery’s Journey Under the Sea, the only other book in the Adventures of You series. In 1979, Bantam Books decided to give Packard and Montgomery their own series of “reader participation fiction” books—appropriately titled Choose Your Own Adventure.
“At the time Bantam launched the series, there were no interactive books, barely any video games, and no Internet. The books were like nothing the kids had ever seen,” says Packard. “I never got emotionally into practicing law, and as soon as I saw that I could make a living from writing, I gave it up. It wasn’t until then that I learned that if you want to accomplish much you have to find something you love to do.”
The CYOA formula put the reader at the center of the story, though not always as the main character. Many of the books dealt with solving a mystery or finding a secret treasure/mythical creature/ reclusive scientist. Similar to changing the channel on a television, if readers weren’t satisfied with how the plot was developing they could start over and make different choices, with roughly 40 plotlines per book. Through these books, children became psychics, spies, ninjas, star athletes, aliens, and wild animals. Many of the books provided historical or mythological lessons via time travel devices, bringing readers face-to-face with the likes of George Washington and Zeus, among others.
Initially, the books were received with mixed reviews. Some critics felt that any book that could entice children to read was a success, but others thought the books weren’t effective because the reader could literally finish an adventure in less than 500 words, and the rapid-fire plots left little for character development. But to many, that was why the books had such great appeal. Instead of having to read a book straight through, children were captivated and compelled to try out nearly every plot path. And, true to life, the books gave the reader a relatively accurate sense of the real world – good moral judgments were usually rewarded, but did not guarantee success. Several critics also felt that giving readers so many options diluted any repercussions that they would face, thus emotionally detaching them from the consequences, but most agreed that the reader’s participation promoted thought process and decision making skills.
In all, Bantam published 184 CYOA books, bringing the series to a close in 1998 with Mayday! written by Packard and his daughter Andrea. The books have been translated into 19 different languages and have sold over 40 million copies in 23 countries. The series also prompted numerous spin-offs, including Choose Your Own Adventure for Younger Readers, Choose Your Own Adventure Walt Disney, Choose Your Own Nightmare, and Choose Your Own Adventure: Super Adventure, a short-lived series of extra-long adventures. Between these series and CYOA rip-offs, interactive fiction books have sold over 150 million copies worldwide.
Packard is currently retired from interactive fiction, but he is satisfied with the impact his books have had. “Millions of kids around the world have enjoyed reading these books and in doing so developed their reading skills and expanded their minds a little more.”
If you choose to continue reading SWINDLE, turn the page. If you choose to watch television, you are a douchebag.