The Mystery of Chimney Rock (Choose Your Own Adventure #5)

My 9 year old son recently started reading and enjoying the 'Choose your Own Adv' series and I had to get him a couple of my old favorites by Edward Packard, including this one and 'Cave of Time'

As a sixth grade teacher, I rarely see my students as fired up to read a novel as they are about the Choose Your Own Adventure series, especially The Mystery of Chimney Rock. They beg me to read to them and often fight over what few copies I have. Kids love to feel like they are in charge of something important and exciting, especially at the middle school age. The Mystery of Chimney Rock is consistent and doesn't contradict itself no matter how your story comes out. The circumstances the reader chooses dictate the action, not the author's manipulating the characters to influence the story. Suspenseful and nailbiting! Students feel genuinely involved and downright nervous as to whether they will live or die in the book.

Fans of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" series will want to pick this one up if they ever see it in libraries or used bookstores. This is the series in its early prime, with originator Edward Packard at the helm. He creates a plausible haunted house with a somewhat original cat-and-mouse theme, some genuine terror for kids, and a fine atmosphere.

This book is very chilling and very spooky. Even at age 15 I enjoyed it! (Although I haven't the slightest idea why it's name was changed!)

Originally titled "The Mystery of Chimney Rock" when it first hit the stores in 1982 (and WHY Bantam Books felt the need to re-title most of the first 10 books in the series in the early '90s is beyond me), this is a fun, scary (if you're 10 or under, as I was at the time) ride for younger readers. The whole sub-plot about the cat is interesting and a true twist ending. Read it and enjoy--and try to get your hands on the original if you can! ...Notorious