Penguin Random House is excited to offer titles from Chooseco, publishers of the bestselling Choose Your Own Adventure® series! Since 2004, Chooseco has been bringing the iconic Choose Your Own Adventure books back to bookshelves everywhere. The series, which first gained popularity in the ’80s and helped foster a generation of readers, continues to spark a lifelong love of reading for kids today. Chooseco publishes some of the titles from the original series, as well as new titles across an expanded age range.
Choose Your Own Adventure: Classics
The “Classics” series that started it all is a mixture of re-issued titles from the ’80s and new titles for middle grade readers (ages 8-12). Each book stars YOU, the reader, as the hero of the story. The interactive, multiple-ending format gets kids excited about reading, inspires adventure, and gives them a sense of agency and empowerment.
Choose Your Own Adventure: New Classics
The “New Classics” subseries, which debuted in 2021 with the instant bestseller, Time Travel Inn by Bart King, is much like the “Classics” but with more pages, more illustrations, a slightly larger format, and, in some cases, continuing characters from one book to another. These titles are written for the middle grade crowd (ages 8-12), skewing slightly on the older side of that range.
Choose Your Own Adventure: Retro Editions
Kicking off in the fall of 2025, the Choose Your Own Adventure “Retro Editions” will harken back to the ’80s by bringing back iconic titles like The Cave of Time, The Mystery of Chimney Rock, and any nostalgia fan’s must-have, The Retro Box, which includes four nearly facsimile editions of Bantam-era CYOA books #1-4 and a limited-edition collectible poster. All of the “Retro Editions” will feature original cover and interior artwork from 80s great, Paul Granger, with minor text updates from author, Edward Packard.
Choose Your Own Adventure: Spies
The “Choose Your Own Adventure Spies” subseries immerses readers in the lives of historical figures.. Praised by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist for its captivating storylines and educational content, the series invites 9- to 12-year-old readers to explore the streets of Paris, France, during World War II, journey to Cleopatra’s ancient Egypt, and learn the art of illusion with Harry Houdini, and more. Each book contains back matter that distinguishes historical fact from fiction, and teachers can access downloadable guides and classroom materials.
“Choose Your Own Adventure Jr.” books for elementary school students are some of the most popular books in the series! Never too scary, but always packed with zany multiple-no-death-ending adventures, the CYOA Jr. books are the perfect introduction to the series. Filled with full-color artwork and illustrations on almost every page, these have a shorter page count with fewer endings, intended for younger reader with a shorter attention span. The series is perfect for beginning readers as well as for library and classroom read-alouds.
The Dregg Disaster: An Algebra I Gamebook
Last but certainly not least, The Dregg Disaster: An Algebra I Gamebook combines Choose Your Own Adventure interactivity with math problems! As you read the story and come to a choice point, you must solve a math problem to figure out which page to turn to next. And sometimes you have to do a problem just to get to the next scene. Unlike traditional CYOA books, The Dregg Disaster is a much larger format and lies flat and is broken up into four different chapters, so it’s extra important to turn to the correct page. At the end of each chapter, there is an “Adventurer’s Advice” section to help students through the problems, along with a list of Algebra I concepts that are covered. But don’t worry, like traditional CYOA books, this one has plenty of storylines and twists and turns!
Based in Vermont and founded by one of the co-creators of the series, the late R. A. Montgomery, alongside his wife and fellow CYOA author, Shannon Gilligan, Chooseco has been bringing the iconic Choose Your Own Adventure books back to shelves since 2004. The series, which first gained popularity in the ’80s and helped foster a generation of readers, continues to spark a lifelong love of reading for kids today. Chooseco publishes some of the titles from the original series, as well as new titles across an expanded age range.
