Jim Gasperini

This one is fun if you have a beginner's interest in ancient history. The adventures and daring escapes are close enough to reality while simultaneously being kid-friendly and showcasing the brutishness of life 2,000 years ago. And given that most Time Machine books have to invent a plausible solution to the mystery at hand (in many instances these are real historical conundrums), I thought the explanation for Mystery of Atlantis was clever even for an adult reader, let alone a child.

The writing and the illustrations are very good. However in every other way these books are inferior to the Choose Your Own Adventure books. In those books there are multiple endings, you can even die! Here there is one ending and if you pit the wrong path it becomes an exercise in frustration to try and get back onto the correct path.

The Time Machine book series will always have a special place in my heart. These were the stories I discovered during my elementary school days when so little else caught my interest. Who doesn't love time travel and adventure? And if one happens to learn a little history along the way, why not?

I was such a reluctant reader as a kid that I'm sure I was attracted to these choose-your-own-adventure books because it gave me permission to skip pages.

As a kid, I was utterly fascinated with pirates. Spanish galleons, sword fights and buried treasure all played about in my imagination. I even remember once trying to write a 3-part story about a pirate who eventually became a space pirate though I think I gave up when it got too complicated. So I wouldn't be surprised if my interest originated because I read this book.