Meanwhile

graphic text meets choose your own adventure. Great for boys who like to "participate" in the story.

Fantastic children's book for ages 9+. My son and I had a great time going through this book, and it's an opportunity to talk about science (and science fiction) topics like the grandfather paradox and the many worlds hypothesis.

My only quibble is that it might be too difficult! We couldn't find a way to a satisfying conclusion without a bit of cheating. But like those choose-your-own-adventure books from the 80s, cheating's part of the fun! ( )

A choose your own adventure-style graphic novel with nearly 4000 possible stories! Fun illustrations, and such a cool concept.

This book is appropriate for 4th and 5th graders. The words would be to challenging for the younger grades. This book is very cool the pages has tube like tunnels that guide the reader to different parts of the page that then lead then to a different part of the book. The tabs allow the pages to move easily to part of the story. Readers are trying to crack the code to get to the top secret. This book is lots of funny and will lead you on a new path every time.
Teachers could use this book to:
-As a free choice read. Students would really like this on their book shevels so they could read it on their own.
-Have students make predictions on what will happen before, during, and after. Have the write it in their journals so they can share the findings after. ( )

It is no exaggeration that you will not be able to put this book down. With 3,856 possible plot permutations the comic is addictive and fun because the reader will want to discover all of them. Even though you know it's nearly impossible to do, especially in sitting, this will not stop you from flipping through the pages again and again and again.

Jason Shiga has done an incredible job of creating this choose-your-own-adventure comic. The panels are realistically colored without being too detailed as to be distracting. The comic's style is also quite simple, with thick black lines around each individual panel, all of which are square or rectangular. The pages' background colors are various shades of brown and orange, as are the "tubes" connecting them.

The basic storyline follows a boy who stops in to a strange building to use the bathroom after buying a chocolate ice cream. It turns out that a mad scientist runs his experiments there, and the boy gets to experiment with the machines the scientist has created, including a time machine, the Killitron 2000, and the SQUID or Superconducting Quantum Interference Device. Each device you choose has its own set of paths to follow depending on the reader's choice. Some endings lead to an endless time travelling loop, some lead back to your house, and some paths cause world destruction, which was a bit disturbing. Each permutation features dialogue between the boy and the scientist, as well as other characters; this dialogue at times is quite lengthy and complex, although it is interesting enough to keep the reader's attention.

Overall "Meanwhile" was a fascinating read that you'll want to keep reading forever. The combination of reader interactivity, funny illustrations, and fun science dialogue make this comic a must-have.