Display: History Choose Your Own Adventure

Life as a Ninja
By Matt Doeden
Mankato, MN: Capstone Press, 2010. Informational.

Describes the lives of ninjas in feudal Japan. The reader's choices reveal historical details from the perspectives of a ninja taking part in the siege of Sawayama Castle, fighting the army of Oda Nobunaga, and serving as a member of the Band of Iga.

Spies of World War I
By Michael Burgan
North Mankato, MN: Capstone Press, 2016. Informational.

The world's great powers have all been swept up in the first global war. Spying on the enemy can provide information that might be useful for your country's war effort. The work is dangerous but exciting. Will you: Offer your services to the German intelligence agency as an English-speaking spy? Work as an Allied female spy in German-occupied Belgium? Be sent to Russia as a member of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service? You Choose offers multiple perspectives on espionage in World War I.

The Civil Rights Movement
By Heather Adamson
Mankato, MN: Capstone Press, 2009. Informational.

Describes the people and events of the U.S civil rights movement. The reader's choices reveal the historical details from the perspectives of a Little Rock resident, a Freedom Rider, and a Birmingham protester.

Ancient Egypt
By Heather Adamson
Mankato, MN: Capstone Press, 2010. Informational.

Describes the life and times of the era known as Ancient Egypt. The readers' choices reveal the historical details of life as a pyramid builder in the Old Kingdom, life as an artist in the New Kingdom, and life as a soldier or royal servant in the Ptolemaic Period.

Ancient Greece
By William Caper
Mankato, MN: Capstone Press, 2010. Informational.

Ancient Greece is an age of amazing achievements in art, literature, and science. Its people enjoy a rich culture and experience times of both peaceful democracy and violent war. Will you: Explore a career in government, art, or philosophy as a citizen of Athens? Experience the hardworking, disciplined life of a resident of Sparta?

The Middle Ages
By Allison Lassieur
Mankato, MN: You Choose Books, 2010. Informational.

Describes the life and times of the era known as the Middle Ages. The reader's choices reveal the historical details of life as a knight in the 1100s, life in a royal castle in the 1200s, and life during the Black Plague in the 1300s.

The Aztec Empire
By Elizabeth Raum
North Mankato, MN: Capstone Press, 2013. Informational.

Describes life during the Aztec Empire. The readers' choices reveal the historical details of life as a worker, a warrior, and a European explorer.

Comments

Funny Farm by Mark Teague 2009

There are things I liked about Mark Teague's newest book, Funny Farm , and things I didn't like. Where should I start? I'll do the "didn'ts" first. The illustrations show animals personified. Well, some of the animals are. The main characters, Edward, and his farm family relatives, all dogs, are humanized. They stand upright, do farm chores, eat at a table, wear clothes, knit (yes, with paws) and sleep in beds. Most everybody else on and around the farm, who are also animals, act like animals. They are outside, roll in mud, live in the barn, and require care from their owners. It struck me the most on the page spread where there are pigs playing in puddle in the rain and Edward, a black and white boxer, watches from inside the house. I thought "You're a dog! Go play with them!" But, alas, he can't, seeing as how he goes through his entire visit to the farm wearing a suit and red bow tie. Another picture that bothered me was the maple syrup pa...

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester 2008

J Fiction 328 pages I almost didn't finish this book. I got to Chapter 4, and was just about ready to quit (a kind of slow story about a girl, name of Piper McCloud, who discovers she can fly, parents freak out, she becomes a social outcast, yadda, yadda) but suddenly, right there in Chapter 4, the story takes a sharp turn and becomes really interesting . Piper finds herself in the company of others like her, but not "fliers", and under the care and authority of Dr. Hellion. I won't even tell you any more. Read this book. Forester does a great job of keeping you wondering who's the good guy and who's the bad? Piper is a likeable, strong, endearing character that girl readers will enjoy. But don't NOT give it to boys! The main male character is an extremely intelligent young man who is one of the ones you wonder about . . . good or bad? This is a good one, well worth your time.

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages. Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

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