The Green Slime

My daughter, four, loves these Skylark Choose Your Own Adventure books for younger readers, and so we've begun a bit of a collection of them. Of the half dozen we currently own, I think this is one of the better ones. Of note is that the main character is depicted as being female, and I haven't come across many of these books that feature female characters. I guess all budding geeks are supposed to be male? This book starts you, the main character getting a chemistry set from your aunt for your birthday - alongside the thrill of taking care of your four and a half year old terror of a cousin. After you scold the kid for dismantling everything he gets his hands, he feigns being asleep and the you make the error leaving the kid alone with your new chemistry set, and in no time there is green slime! Everywhere! And growing! How will you escape? Can you get rid of the slime? Will you save your cousin in time? And just what exactly happens to your friend in most of the endings? There are only seven endings in this title, which is less than the others we own, and there are a couple outcomes that don't allow a vast amount of choices along the path. However, the story itself is a pretty easy, entertaining read, and the illustrations are good enough. Of course, it's worth mentioning that the writing in all the CYOA books is pretty cheesy - not to mention that they feel a little dated, having been originally published in the early 80's. But the ability to make decisions that influence the conclusion of the story is endlessly appealing for young kids - even my two year old enjoys taking her turn at making choices that she doesn't fully understand. All in all, this is one of the better installments I've encountered in the series thus far and is a fun little story.