Item - Statue of Liberty Adventure

This book was published simultaneously with The Miss Liberty Caper, a similarly-themed book in the Choose Your Own Adventure for Younger Readers series. Like its companion book, it handles its educational aspects pretty well, throwing interesting facts into the story periodically. The book really divides into two distinct stories. One of them, involving (rather unsurprisingly) time travel, doesn't always make a whole lot of sense, but its randomness is largely compensated for by its characters, all of whom are well-drawn if not particularly believable. I particularly enjoyed falling in with an early 20th-century anarchist! The other story is more game-oriented, and it does a respectable job of allowing the reader to puzzle out a riddle, being designed in such a way that making a wrong choice initially still won't make the ultimate solution too obvious. On a whole, the book certainly isn't my favorite, but it is entertaining and has a good bit of variety in it, so it's worth a read.

More reviews by Demian

I normally don't like historical gamebooks, but this one is pretty good. The two main storylines are going back in time to become one of your ancestors coming to America, or helping the class brat solve a riddle to find treasure. The time traveling one is a little grim... the first path I took, which involved asking a kind man on the boat what was going on, led to either me getting stamped insane and headed towards a bleak future, or if I accepted a job recommendation from an old man, I fall in with some kind of slum lord who "beats you until your clothes are stained with blood." Wow. That's a bit harsh for a children's story.

Still, it was enjoyable on the whole. Most of the good endings stem from the treasure hunting path, not surprisingly, because being trapped in the past sucks no matter what kind of life you make for yourself. (There is a way to get back from the past though, and it involves getting punched in the face. Yay for that.)

The illustrations are a bit goofy, especially considering the grim tone of a lot of the events. The picture on page 58 of the main character about to be beaten by the slum lord guy is amusing yet horrible. This artist (Ted Enik) would be better suited to draw for some of the more humorous stories.

More reviews by yunakitty