Choose Your Own
Adventure
The book series that put readers in charge of the story — 184 books, 250 million copies sold, and a generation that never forgot the thrill of turning to page 47.
184
Original books
250M+
Copies sold
38
Languages
1979
Series launched
Origin
A Bedtime Story That Changed Everything
In 1969, Vermont author Edward Packard sat by his daughter's bedside struggling to invent a bedtime story. When he ran out of plot, he did something unusual — he asked her what she thought the main character should do next. Her enthusiastic answer sparked an idea that would reshape children's publishing for decades: what if the reader made those choices?
Packard spent years developing the concept into a manuscript called “Sugarcane Island.” After many rejections, Vermont Crossroads Press published it in 1976 as Adventures of You on Sugarcane Island — the first published book in which the reader determined the ending. It caught the eye of R.A. Montgomery, an author and educator at the press who would become the series' most prolific contributor.
Together they brought the concept to Bantam Books, which launched the Choose Your Own Adventure series in 1979 with The Cave of Time as Book #1. What followed was publishing history.
By 1984, four Choose Your Own Adventure titles were simultaneously on the New York Times bestseller list. At peak production, a single new title could ship 750,000 copies in its first week. Children competed on playgrounds to compare endings — the branching format drove re-reading like nothing else before it. By the time the original Bantam series ended in 1998, it had produced 184 books and sold over 250 million copies worldwide.
Timeline
From Bedtime Story to Global Phenomenon
Edward Packard invents the "Adventures of You" concept while telling bedtime stories to his daughters, asking them what the hero should do next.
Vermont Crossroads Press publishes the first interactive story as Adventures of You on Sugarcane Island. R.A. Montgomery, an editor there, becomes Packard's key collaborator.
Bantam Books launches the Choose Your Own Adventure series with The Cave of Time as Book #1. The format is refined, the brand is born.
The series hits its stride — Inside UFO 54-40 becomes a phenomenon, selling over a million copies. The legendary "secret ending" sparks playground debates nationwide.
Choose Your Own Adventure reaches peak popularity. Four titles simultaneously appear on the New York Times bestseller list. Annual sales top 16 million copies.
Book #100 is published. At this point the series has sold over 100 million copies and been translated into dozens of languages.
Bantam ends the original series after 184 books and nearly two decades, citing competition from video games and changing reading habits.
R.A. Montgomery founds Chooseco LLC in Waitsfield, Vermont — the same state where the series was originally conceived — to revive the brand.
Chooseco begins republishing classic titles with new cover art, bringing the series back to a new generation of readers.
Chooseco continues publishing classic and new Choose Your Own Adventure titles. The format has inspired interactive games, digital fiction, and tools like StoryQuestor.
The Books
Iconic Titles to Read (or Re-Read)
All links go to Amazon, where you can find both original editions and Chooseco reprints.
As an Amazon Associate, StoryQuestor earns a small commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
The Cave of Time
Edward Packard
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Journey Under the Sea
R.A. Montgomery
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By Balloon to the Sahara
D. Terman
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Space and Beyond
R.A. Montgomery
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The Mystery of Chimney Rock
Edward Packard
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Your Code Name is Jonah
Edward Packard
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The Third Planet from Altair
Edward Packard
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Deadwood City
Edward Packard
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Who Killed Harlowe Thrombey?
Edward Packard
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The Lost Jewels of Nabooti
R.A. Montgomery
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Inside UFO 54-40
Edward Packard
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The Abominable Snowman
R.A. Montgomery
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The Creators
Edward Packard & R.A. Montgomery
Edward Packard
Creator of the format
A Vermont-based author and attorney, Packard invented the “Adventures of You” format in 1969 for his daughters. He wrote dozens of books in the series including The Cave of Time, Inside UFO 54-40, and You Are a Shark. His instinct — that readers are more engaged when they participate — predated the internet by decades and anticipated the logic of every modern video game and interactive app.
Browse Packard's books on AmazonR.A. Montgomery
Author & series champion
Ray Montgomery was the series' most prolific author and its greatest institutional champion. As an editor at Vermont Crossroads Press, he first encountered Packard's concept and helped bring it to Bantam. He went on to write dozens of titles — Journey Under the Sea, Space and Beyond, The Abominable Snowman — and in 2003, he founded Chooseco LLC to revive the series after Bantam ended it, ensuring the format would survive for another generation.
Browse Montgomery's books on AmazonLegacy
The Idea That Didn't End in 1998
The Choose Your Own Adventure series demonstrated something that no amount of traditional publishing had proven before: readers don't just want to be told stories — they want to participate in them. That instinct turned out to be foundational. It runs through the design of role-playing video games, hypertext fiction, interactive films, escape rooms, and the entire genre of “choice-based narratives.”
Today the format is more alive than ever. Chooseco continues publishing classic titles. Digital platforms let anyone build branching stories without writing a line of code. What was once a specialty children's format is now a universal medium.
StoryQuestor was built on this same conviction — that the best stories are ones where you have a say in what happens next. If the series inspired you as a kid, you already understand what we're building.