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Feb 02, 2012

Janie rated it:

When I first glanced at this in the library, I had a nerd-attack at the sheer genius of it. I mean, choose your own adventure COMIC?!?! However, after the first maybe, five endings, I got bored. I'm sorry! The thing about this book is that it's actually quite tricky to read the panels and follow the order of the story, and once you do get the hang of it, you have to start from page one to start over because virtually every single time because, unlike Choose Your Own Adventure books, the page More...

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Sep 29, 2011

Sandy rated it:

This book is incredibly trippy - in a good way. It's kind of a Choose Your Own Adventure in graphic novel format featuring time travel, entropy, quantam physics, and a doomsday device. It starts out innocently enough - do you want chocolate or vanilla ice cream? Choose which path you want to take and follow the tubes to the correct tab, which takes you to another page where the story continues. Various other choices along the way cause the story to split yet again, revealing a story that gro More...

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Apr 19, 2011

Paul rated it:

Man I was so excited when I saw this book. I have been wanting to make a choose-you-own-adventure graphic novel for years. Meanwhile, Jason Shiga was out doing it. One-upmanship aside, this is a pretty interesting book. I would have doe it a little differently, but for a groundbreaking genre, it's quite fun. There are some weird twists, strange characters, it even gets a little meta (and we all love that, don't we?) I'll admit it, I cheated, but I got through all the endings. I stops making sens More...

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Jan 23, 2011

Thomas rated it:

This book is super clever, and if we rated books on how much work went into them, I'd put this one on the six-star shelf. Unfortunately for this book, my highly scientific rating system takes into account a myriad of attributes. This does include both originality (five stars) and quality of paper stock (a glorious five stars), but it also looks at ease of use (two stars) and enjoyability (three stars and sinking fast).

Meanwhile is basically a snazzy new version of Choose Your Own Adv More...

4 comments like (9 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2010

Nicola rated it:

Reason for Reading: This is a Cybils '10 nominee and required reading for me as a graphic novels panelist.

Well, this *is* a book but a very unique one. You've never seen anything like this before: plastic pages with tabs all along the edges and tubes that run up, down, right, left and all over the place. In fact, this is more like playing a game than reading a book. You start out with the choice of chocolate or vanilla ice cream and from there on every choice you make changes the story More...

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Nov 09, 2010

Warren rated it:

Fun interactive Choose-Your-Own-Adventure type book that was made possible with a computer. Some options led you to mind-blowing story developments. It took me a couple of hours to go through every option and real all the panels and get the story straight. Highly recommended.

Interesting information from the edition notice:

Meanwhile began as a series of seven increasingly complex flowcharts. Because of asymmetries in the branching, a special notation had to be invented for the final three

More...

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Jul 06, 2010

Don rated it:

THIS IS THE CRAZIEST CHOOSE-YOUR-OWN-WHATEVER YOU WILL EVER READ.

Jason Shiga is a genius and a madman. Branching-plot comics have been done before from time to time, but never to any great success and with no real innovation. Here, the innovation is in the reading experience itself: Instead of reading one page, then turning to a different page - as in most CYOA-type books - it's the comics panels themselves that twist and turn, with the reader's direction of flow guided by a series o More...

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Jun 02, 2010

Becky rated it:

OK, so I didn't read it all. But give this visual Choose Your Own Adventure to anyone who loves math, mazes, and/or comics. The choice between chocolate and vanilla spins out into 3,856 story possibilities, many of which end in doom. This will keep you occupied for a while.

I don't even understand this note in the front: "Once the outline of the story was structured, a computer algorithm was written to determine the most efficient method to transfer it to book form. However, the More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

May 24, 2010

Elizabeth rated it:

Quantum physics, parallel worlds, probability, entropy. Yes it's all in a day's work for your average everyday choose your own adventure book. Now just substitute the words "average" and "everyday" in that previous sentence for "extraordinary" and "twisted" and you've got yourself a pretty good description of Jason Shiga's graphic title Meanwhile. Simple enough in its concept and art that a ten-year-old would feel confident picking it up, yet jam packed wi More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 25, 2010

Tasha rated it:

Combine a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book with a graphic novel and you have this book. Open the book and you are immediately stopped and the format is explained. Follow the tubes, they move in all directions, and you get the chance to make all sorts of choices. The first choice you have is ice cream: chocolate or vanilla. That small decision sets you off on an adventure that could involve a time machine, entropy or even immortality. The choice is yours. Chocolate or vanilla?

Shig More...

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Mar 09, 2010

Sarah-Greenbeanteenqueen rated it:

About the Book: It all starts with a simple question-what flavor of ice cream, chocolate or vanilla? From there Jimmy is sent on the adventure of the reader's choice. Follow the paths and see where they lead.

GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I have been excited to read this one since I saw a starred review in Booklist. The premise intrigued me-a choose your own adventure comic? I had to check it out.

Meanwhile is the most inventive and creative book I have come across in a long t More...

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Mar 03, 2010

Shivering William rated it:

My experience with Meanwhile was sort of an inverted parabola. I entered into it with a great deal of excitement (having been swept to great heights by FLEEP and Bookhunter. So what is that? A parabola that starts high on the Y axis? Screw it, we'll just leave that analogy behind all together). Anyway, I was excited. Then I entered and beheld the lay out--the ingenious pipe system that not only defied all comic layout background knowledge but also utilized a tab system that doesn't allow y More...

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Aug 04, 2010

Rach rated it:

My friend Anne picked this book up one day at Comic Con, and I was so enchanted by it, I had to go get one for myself! And we lucked out, because the day we went back to the booth to get me one was the day Jason Shiga was there, signed his books and chatting. He is a cool, friendly guy, with a crazy-smart brain in his head. He has my new favorite collection - vintage choose-your-own-adventure books! This collection was clearly his inspiration for this book, which just so happens to be coolest c More...

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Jul 16, 2010

Josh rated it:

It is very rare that a book comes along with a completely different way of telling a story. This book does that and does so largely successfully. The linear nature of time is cleverly looped back on itself, as is time's potentially branching nature. And, the story is hard to imagine being told in any other way than the way it is (by following a maze of lines through cells of comic book art).

I also greatly enjoyed the stories exploration of entropy and the "best of all possible wo More...

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Jan 16, 2012

Sunil rated it:

Jason Shiga is a UC Berkeley grad. His degree? Pure mathematics. That should give you an indication of what sort of craziness is in store for you, for, lo, this is a Choose Your Own Adventure comic book.

You go get some ice cream. Your first decision? Chocolate or vanilla. Follow the path for boring old vanilla, and your story ends in boringness. Choose chocolate, however, and you find yourself at the home of a mad scientist with a time machine, a memory-reading machine, and, uh, the Ki More...

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Sep 25, 2010

abatage rated it:

Shiga deserves a gold star for having the brain power to conceptualise this book. Who would have thought that the old-hat choose your own adventure could receive such a wonderful face lift?!

This book is fun to the max. The very nature of it makes you run your finger along the page to find where you're going and the panels are all paced well so that every time you turn a page, the anticipation of how your choices have guided the story is compelling and exciting.

There's so More...

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Jun 04, 2010

Matthew rated it:

A quirky, fun graphic novel that works much like the "Choose Your Own Adventure" series except with illustrations. The story starts out with young Jimmy picking out an ice-cream cone: vanilla or chocolate. Most threads take him to an experimental laboratory, in which you get to pick what crazy invention Jimmy plays with and how. Each invention leads to a different set of options----some like the time machine loop you around and bring you back while others take you on very different More...

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Jul 30, 2010

Alison rated it:

Moms shouldn't choose their son's books, and this is why. While flipping through this book made me a bit dizzy and confused, my son devoured it in one day, and has read it over and over again.

It's a choose-your-own adventure comic book - and even cooler than it sounds, if such a thing is possible.

I have to admit, if I saw Meanwhile in the bookstore, I would have picked it up, not understood it, and walked out without buying it...and my son would have missed out on this g More...

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Apr 05, 2011

Sara rated it:

Holy awesome. I always felt kind of meh about choose your own adventure books (there are only so many storylines that end in certain death and still keep me interested), but this is way. way. cooler. Ever read a choose your own adventure comic book? Especially one with 3,856 possible path possibilities? With multiple storylines that run on the same page and secret hidden pages that can only be accessed with a code? In fact, I feel kind of weird saying that I've "read" this book, More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Sep 22, 2011

Cassi rated it:

I can't really say that I finished it, because I wanted to discover even more paths before I returned it to the library. This book starts out as a simple choice: vanilla or chocolate? Pick either one <spoiler> Hint: it's chocolate </spoiler>, and your adventure begins! I would suggest this book to anyone who wants a zany adventure. I would also suggest this to be a summer book, since there are literally so many possibilities. Sometimes you'll find yourself going in circles, but More...

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Mar 07, 2010

Jake rated it:

How I wish Jason Shiga's interactive books were around when I was 9 years old when, like Shiga, I was voraciously consuming every Choose Your Own Adventure Book on the market. This would have been my favorite book, hands down Meanwhile is deceptively slim and deviously complex, while hinging on simple choices. It's a comic that in which you follow the lines up, down, left and right, flipping back and forth across tabbed pages. Like the best CYOA books, it's a blast to follow a story thread to it More...

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Apr 05, 2010

Aaron rated it:

It'll be a long time before I can truly say I've 'read' this book. There are many bewildering paths to take through the story.

Despite the cartoony rendering, this is an adult tale and the metaphysical parts are taken quite seriously. The whole thing is clever and unexpectedly thought-out; the author has definitely watched 'Primer' and carefully ensures all the time travel is internally consistent.

The simple system of boxes and pipes is used to create some neat tricksy dev More...

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Jun 28, 2011

Justyn rated it:

There are 3,856 story possibilities according to the cover.

I've only gotten ten so far.

However, I've read enough of the stories to recognize this is a very unique and kind of wonderful book.

This comic takes choose your adventure and comics to a whole new level. The choices are connected by little tubes that direct you where to go. The basic story starts when a little boy chooses between chocolate and vanilla.

This choice effects the fate of the worl More...

1 comment like

Jan 09, 2012

Jill rated it:

I gave this 5 stars because my son couldn't wait to get it out of my hands to read it. Since I normally have to yell at him to do his 20 minutes of reading and have taken home myriad titles home for him, any book that can do that and keep him interested is a hit in my book! I'm not sure that I would have the patience to sit and go through different stories more than a couple of times because it can be pretty complicated, but I think that for some kids this would be a total draw--it was for my so More...

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Jan 05, 2011

Irene rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jul 27, 2010

Julie rated it:

This is a bizarre new format (at least to me) of choose your-own-adventure. WOW. It had my 10-year-old, who loves "manga" (I still don't really know what this is), drawing, and comics, unable to come up for air. It was written with exactly the same kind of humor, drawing, and topics that my son loves...uncanny. I also had a lot of fun figuring out how it works with him. I'd give it 5 stars but I was quickly frustrated with having to go through the whole story repeatedly in order to More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 15, 2011

Christina rated it:

This amazingly drawn "chose your own adventure" graphic novel offers a fun, TV like character who haplessly solves just about nothing. The cover of the book claims that the reader might encounter as many as 3,856 adventures, but I doubt any of us has the patience for that. However, this is a very clever little text that makes teenagers smile while reading. How terrific is that, even if squids are heavily and randomly involved? Have a good time while you read, and take a trip, cust More...

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Oct 29, 2011

Samantha rated it:

What a cool book! I definitely needed the page describing how the book should be read, I tried to figure it out on my own and got it all wrong! This is a choose your own adventure book in graphic novel format. It all starts out with a simple choice about ice cream: chocolate or vanilla. Then, before you know it, you're traveling back in time with the mysterious professor's time machine or any of his other unique devices. My end was tragic, but every decision presents a multitude of possibilities More...

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Dec 05, 2010

Erin rated it:

I loved the concept, being a fan of the Choose Your Own Adventure series from forever ago, but the reality was a little less satisfying. I appreciated the work that went into this, but it was a challenge to read and follow the story paths. Someone who loves puzzles, riddles and challenges will probably really get into this. As i read, I kept seeing story lines that looked more interesting than mine, but couldn't figure out how to get there, and so I ended up reading the same handful of possib More...

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Oct 25, 2010

Felix rated it:

Have you been faced with the end of the world and dont have any idea what to do. You get the biggest stomach ache because of a crappy chocolate ice scream. But guess what thats not all you have to chose your path. But make sure you chose the right path or you will end up in doom as shigas art sees to that. you can tell by hes art that hes tryng to confuse you and make sure you understand whats going on at the same time. This book will drive you nuts and i completly love it it creativity mak More...

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