Spy for George Washington

Choose Your Own Adventure #48

by Jay Leibold

Book by Jay Leibold

Genres: Choose Your Own Adventure, Gamebooks, Fiction, Childrens, War, Historical Fiction

128 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1985

About the author

Pseudonym used by Jay Montavon. Author of fifteen books in the original Choose Your Own Adventure series, including the five-book "Secret of the Ninja" saga.

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining 30 minute adventure. I loved them as a kid but they have a lot to give when your a bit older too...

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun choose-your-own-adventure

[Mark L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

These sorts of boooks were among if not the most cherished books of my childhood. This is mainly for the reason that they gave me a choice, a say into how the story unfolded on the pages before me. These types of books are unique both in the experience they give the reader, and the challenege that they pose to those who dare to write them. It was reading through these stories one after another, that I began to realize that even more than following along with a good story, I enjoyed conducting the evnts of the story for myself. They also allowed me to better explore myself based on the choices I made and where they led me. I gauged my decision-making abilities and my sensibilities on the path I chose in the story. Even today, I would not dare to attempt to write a story such as these. As I have grown as a writer, I have only grown in my appreciation for this sort of book and the titanic task it is to ensure that every story path coalesces somehow into a believable and workable story. Only once have I ever found any inconsistancies in the story (though it wasa big one), and that was not in this book. This one, is probably the best Choose Your Own Adventure Story I have ever had the pleasure to look over.

In the end though, this is a children's book and it meets this demographic very neatly. I have not read this story since I was a child, but the memories are enough to make me wish I had.

[Trixie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well...it was OK, it had its moments. I was actually hoping for something a lot more educational about the Revolutionary War for my daughter, and of course that in most of the storylines, you would get to actually meet George Washington or some of the other Founding Fathers.

Never happened. And a lot of choices seemed to be false choices--no matter which option you choose, the storyline has the same result. Example: when I chose to travel by land or by sea, I chose land. And the story put me in a boat anyway, to hide for the night. Then, when I had the choice to continue hiding or to hail another boat, I chose to hide--and it had me hailing other boats regardless of what I'd JUST chosen. It's really disrespectful of the whole "choice" paradigm!

[JKR · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the historical fiction-type CYOA books. They remind me of the Time Machine series, which I also enjoyed a lot. I would rate this entry higher if there was less repetition among the multiple story threads.