You and the secret knowledge.

R.A. Montgomery is the author of the phenomenally successful Choose Your Own Adventure[R] books. Since 1979--the year the first Choose Your Own Adventure book was published--the series has been translated into 38 foreign languages, has over 250 million copies in print, and each of the first 15 books of the series is a one-million-copy bestseller! With these interactive adventures--where readers are the star of the story, and their choices determine the ending--Montgomery set the standard for adventure books for young readers. Now--over 25 years after the initial publication--Chooseco, LLC, is thrilled to introduce these books to a new generation of readers. Featuring new illustrations and covers, all of the texts have been updated to reflect technological advances, recent historical discoveries and current political realities. On May 27, 2006, they will publish the first eight books in the series ($5.99 each), revised and updated.

I hope that you realize just how important you and what you are doing are. Kids are the future of our world, an obvious statement but never more true. You are their guide, and you are the transmitter of the secret knowledge.

What, you might ask, is the secret knowledge? It is everything we have learned on this planet: how to make fire; what herbs to eat to get well and what plants are poisonous; how to hunt, and how to plant; and how to speak and write and count; how to develop a system of laws, how to write poetry, and how to create algorithms; how to promote health, and how to take care of our planet.

This secret knowledge is what you pass on to students every day that you are in the classroom or the library and with every assignment you give to them and every book you recommend. You are both the custodians of learning and advance guards of the future.

As a writer for kids (although I am careful to write for all, and never to write down to kids) I make some of the tools for you to help them develop one of the most powerful of all skills: reading comprehension. I say one advisedly: the others of course are writing and arithmetic. These are the fabled Three R's. Without them civilization would retreat into a dark and even more confused time.

So, how and where, you ask, does CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE[R] play a role in this offering of the secret knowledge?

These books constitute a stealth reading development program utilizing the power of game theory, where role-playing and decision-making combine to activate involvement and participation.

Kids read these CHOOSE books because they are the hero of the story, the pilot in command, the surgeon at the operating table, the famous mountain climber, detective, scientist. They count! Their individual choices lead to different endings--as many as 120 permutations in each book. Imagination is unleashed, ego becomes involved, participation is unavoidable.

When you try CHOOSE in your classroom, you will be amazed at how quickly your students will read and reread the stories. Remember, a reader can get to THE END in just 8 or 10 pages. To make the books a lengthier lesson rather than a quick read, ask the student WHY YOU made a certain decision. For example, in Escape, a book about the conflict between fascist forces and rebels fighting for democracy, YOU the reader are the leader of a team deep in enemy territory. Here is an excerpt:

At that very moment there is a knock at the door--a loud knock! Mimla raises a finger to her lips. Haven cringes in the corner. Everyone looks at YOU.

If you tell them to run for it through the back door of the house, turn to page 40.

If you tell them to prepare to defend themselves, turn to page 29.

Now the discussion begins. These are real issues, real decisions, but without the risks of the real world. This is role-playing; this is game theory at work; this is simulation. It is values-clarification. It is gut-wrenching humanness at its best. It is not movies, nor TV, nor computer games. It is people--kids and teachers--reaching out and testing and trying and thinking and deciding. CHOOSE books are an active experience.

On top of all this, most books have substantive information about the world. This information is limited, allowing adventure to propel the story, but it can stimulate kids to follow up on the subjects of the stories. Mystery of the Maya concerns the rapid and mysterious decline of the once brilliant Mayan civilization. The Abominable Snowman gives a glimpse into the world's highest mountains and their glaciers, as well as the Buddhist culture of Nepal. The Mystery of Ura Senke puts the spotlight on a culture where the tea ceremony is the highest expression of refinement and culture for men and women both. Trouble on Planet Earth deals with the limits of fossil fuel. Driven by adventure, these CHOOSE books are also full of information.

Kids in grades 4-7 are the perfect age for these adventures. These kids are on the threshold of adolescence, but they are anxious to be treated as adults. CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE does just that.

So, enjoy the books. The kids will. Don't forget YOU are the keepers of the secret knowledge.