Stock Car Champion

Choose Your Own Adventure #96

by R.A. Montgomery

The reader is a mechanic to the number one stock car racer in the world. When the other mechanic quits and decides to become a racer, he asks the reader to become his partner in the big race. The reader must make his own decision to know the outcome!

Genres: Choose Your Own Adventure, Gamebooks, Collections, Racing

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Raymond A. Montgomery (born 1936 in Connecticut) was an author and progenitor of the classic Choose Your Own Adventure interactive children's book series, which ran from 1979 to 2003. Montgomery graduated from Williams College and went to graduate school at Yale University and New York University (NYU). He devoted his life to teaching and education.

In 2004, he co-founded the Chooseco publishing company alongside his wife, fellow author/publisher Shannon Gilligan, with the goal of reviving the CYOA series with new novels and reissued editions of the classics.

He continued to write and publish until his death in 2014.

Reviews

[Brandon Nichols]

Would it have been so much to ask for a CYOA book about racing to let you actually make some decisions WHILE racing? Most of your paths lead you to not get a chance to race at all. You'll deal with arson, sabotage, squabbles between professionals, but you won't get a single decision to make behind the wheel of a race car.

Stock Car Distractions would have been a better title. Adventurous...maybe, but not as advertised. Disappointing.

[Colton]

It seems R.A. Montgomery is in his element when it comes to writing about racing. This book reminds me a lot of Motocross Mania, another above-average book in the series concerning racing and sabotage. This book has a couple of major characters that are actually given a bit of characterization, which leads to some interesting choices. Your choices in this book aren't just a means to an end, either. There are a few endings that result in people dying, either you or someone your character is close to. There are even a few almost poignant moments in the book and it was kind of sad at some points. On page 3, a character uses a minor swear word, which is the first time I've seen in this series. However, this book seemed marketed a little bit towards the older crowd, as your character is obviously old enough to drive. All that said, I enjoyed the time I spent with this one. Except for a few typical Montgomery-style non-endings, this is a solid book. Recommended.