Item - Zapped in Space

Being a Goosebumps book, this is no great piece of English literature, and, like many other books in the series, its internal consistency is more or less non-existent; still, it's an above-average kids' gamebook. The virtual reality theme is a good excuse to use diverse settings in the story, and both plot strands are satisfyingly goal-oriented. Along the way to completing each mission, the reader gets to face a variety of puzzles, ranging from choosing which item to grab to solving word searches and math problems. There's even a trivia question referring back to an earlier volume in the series (Trapped in Bat Wing Hall). All of these challenges are quite simple, but they give the book a lot of flavor. It's not quite at the level of Be an Interplanetary Spy as far as puzzles go, but it's up there with the more interesting Twistaplot books. Also worth noting is the fact that the cover art is printed backwards -- just look for the artist's signature and you'll see what I mean!

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