The Pirates of Doom

Pirates have stolen the royal jewel! The adventuring reader's quest is to board the pirate ship and recover it. The perils are many, but the rewards will be great--if the right decisions are made along the way. Get ready, it's going to take a lot of courage to fend off hungry sharks, plank-pushing pirates, and an albatross with a strong maternal instinct. In each of Patrick Burston's Choose-Your-Challenge gamebooks, the reader is assigned a task, then put in control of the direction the story will take. Each page is a new opportunity to alter the course of destiny--at least for this adventure. Along the way, the brave pathfinder will encounter obstreperous obstacles, maddening mazes, mathematical enigmas, and puzzles to perplex even the most clever clue seekers. The way each problem is solved determines which page to turn to next. Often, the intrepid explorer will reach the brink of success, only to be banished to the beginning again, perhaps this time choosing more adroitly among the plethora of permutations for each story. Atelier P. Harchy's lush illustrations invite the reader to linger, seeking out the secret details and imagining the lively action within. What better way to prepare children for the decision-making responsibilities they will be shouldering later in life? (Ages 4 to 10) --Emilie Coulter