Alcatraz: A Chilling Interactive Adventure

Gr 4–6—These interactive titles are not only scary but informative as well. The use of the choose-your-own adventure format allows for fact and fiction to blend together into a well-wrought package of fun reading and considerable history. Readers begin on their own or with a fictional friendly accomplice and soon encounter the famous ghostly inhabitants. The assorted choices they're given lead to frightening, comical, and even disastrous possibilities. Small captioned photographs complement true descriptions of these places and their spooky residents. The mix of haunted sites—a house, a ship, a prison, and the royal palace/prison—offer plentiful intrigue. An epilogue provides several pages of history and a substantial time line. "Other Paths to Explore" asks students three questions that invite them to think about the subject from various points of view.