Lost In The Wild by Ryan Jacobsen
Reviewed by: Chris Singer
About the author:
Ryan Jacobson is the author of 10 children’s books with several other projects in various stages of production. He lives in Mora, Minnesota, with his wife Lora and their adopted sons, Jonah and Lucas.
Ryan works as a book editor and marketing specialist for a small press, and he has extensive experience working with children, dating back to his days as a summer camp counselor. His favorite part of being an author is presenting at schools and making public appearances.
About the book:
Do you know how to survive a bear encounter? Can you guess which wild edibles are safest to eat? Would you make the right choice if surrounded by wolves? If your answer is, “no,” then you’d better do your homework before picking up LOST IN THE WILD (September 2008, Adventure Publications), a new choose-your-path children’s book by Ryan Jacobson.
Targeted for nine- to twelve-year-olds, LOST IN THE WILD puts readers in control of the story, where a family trip to Minnesota’s Boundary Waters becomes a desperate struggle to survive. Each chapter features scenarios in which the reader must decide the correct course of action. If the reader makes an incorrect decision, the result is often catastrophic.
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My take on the book:
I grew up reading Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books and remember getting most of them via the book order flyer from Scholastic passed out in our classroom each month at school. These were always some of my favorite books so I was very pleased to see a rebirth of the genre with this Choose-Your-Path book by Ryan Jacobson.
I never remember the books I read as a kid being as well written as this one by Jacobsen. I also don't remember the adventures being as thrilling or exciting as well. Jacobson does a fantastic job of building suspense and keeping you on the edge of your seat wondering if your next choice will lead to a catastrophe. I was also impressed that the results from your choices weren't random but rather you needed to have some knowledge about outdoor survival in order to get to the end without dying (Confession: It took me three times to make it through successfully).
I love how Jacobson added the camping safety and outdoor survival tips at the end of the book along with some references to other resources so if a reader's interest is piqued, there is somewhere to turn for more information.
This is an excellent choice for reluctant readers. I have no doubt they will enjoy the twists and turns of this survival adventure!
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My wife loved reading these books as a kid, and she still enjoys reading them. I'm going to have to remember to tell her about this book. Thanks Chris.
Thanks Kevin - This ones better than the ones we had as kids too!
Loved the review! It's so nice to hear from someone who loved the books in their youth, because I only know about them through my husband. He was addicted to them and also mentioned he thought this was really well written in comparison. I also loved the survival tips and information you needed to know. Great book and fantastic review!
Thanks! I enjoyed yours as well
I also was addicted to these books - I bet I owned a 100 of them at least. I wish the ones I had as a kid were this good though.
Great review! I've spent lots of time in the Boundary Waters, so I'm very glad to hear about a book featuring that wonderful area! Sounds like I need to check out this book!
Thanks Terry!
I am off to the library now! I hope they have these. Great review.