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Meanwhile: Pick Any Path. 3,856 Story Possibilities. [Hardcover]

Jason Shiga
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)

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Book Description

March 1, 2010 8 and up
Chocolate or Vanilla? This simple choice is all it takes to get started with Meanwhile, the wildly inventive creation of comics mastermind Jason Shiga, of whom Scott McCloud said “Crazy + Genius = Shiga.” Jimmy, whose every move is under your control, finds himself in a mad scientist’s lab, where he’s given a choice between three amazing objects: a mind-reading device, a time-travel machine, or the Killitron 3000 (which is as ominous as it sounds). Down each of these paths there are puzzles, mysterious clues, and shocking revelations. It’s up to the reader to lead Jimmy to success or disaster.

Meanwhile is a wholly original story of invention, discovery, and saving the world, told through a system of tabs that take you forward, backward, upside down, and right side up again. Each read creates a new adventure!
 
Awards and praise for Jason Shiga
 
2004 Eisner Award
2003 Ignatz Award
2007 Stumpton Trophy Award
1999 Xeric Grant Recipient
 
“Crazy + Genius = Shiga” —Scott McCloud, author of Understanding Comics
 
“If humankind ever finds itself at the brink of its own destruction and I am given the task to fill a small, space-bound time capsule with a collection of ten graphic novels that would present to alien eyes the best that the cartoonists of Earth had to offer the universe, Jason Shiga's Meanwhile would surely be among my picks.” —Gene Luen Yang, author of American Born Chinese
 
“A creator of comix that can be at once funny, disturbing, thoughtful, deconstructed, and cleverly put together.” —Time online
 
Meanwhile is a wallop of a book/graphic novel! It delivers action, choices, problem solving, and engagement. And it reminds me of my own efforts in writing Choose Your Own Adventure, which I take as a great compliment coming from Jason Shiga. I wish I had written this book! Run, don’t walk, to your favorite bookseller and pick up a copy!” —R. A. Montgomery, Choose Your Own Adventure author
 
“Ingenious” —Edward Packard, Choose Your Own Adventure author

Frequently Bought Together

Meanwhile: Pick Any Path. 3,856 Story Possibilities. + The Haunted House (Choose Your Own Adventure - Dragonlarks) + Your Very Own Robot (Choose Your Own Adventure - Dragonlark)
Price for all three: $26.87

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4–6—Shiga introduces readers to a whole new technique of reading comics. Jimmy must decide if he wants chocolate or vanilla ice cream. That's the first choice readers face in order to determine the fate of the world in this "Choose Your Own Adventure" style graphic novel. Rather than reading panels left to right, color-coded tubelike lines send children in the direction the panels should be read, from right to left/left to right, up to down/down to up, and flipping backwards to pages rather than going forward. Tabs on the edge of the pages help move the tubes along, directing readers to which page to read next. If a tube splits into two paths from a panel, readers then must choose which scenario to follow. Illustrations are drawn in ink, with color overlay. The text is clearly written by hand and will be easily deciphered by readers. Seasoned graphic-novel fans will be entertained by selecting scenarios throughout this action-packed book while developing problem-solving skills. Thousands of story possibilities will guarantee them a different experience each time they pick up this book. However, some readers may have to run their finger along the tube lines to keep track of their place in the story's path, as some of them can be quite long or zigzagged.—Janet Weber, Tigard Public Library, OR
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* In this graphic-novel mind boggler, Shiga blows the choose-your-own-adventure concept out of the water. Readers play the role of little Jimmy and on the first page make the seemingly innocuous decision of ordering a vanilla or chocolate ice-cream cone. Tubes connect panels in all directions and veer off into tabs to other pages, creating a head-spinningly tangled web of a story (well, stories; the book claims to have 3,856 different possibilities). The crux is that Jimmy stumbles into the lab of an affable mad scientist and is allowed to tinker with three inventions: a mind reader, a time machine, and the Killitron, which obliterates all life on earth aside from the user’s. Jimmy’s carefree fiddling with the three devices isn’t merely a way to lead readers through the subsequent head trip of an adventure; it’s also just about the perfect kid-friendly initiation to the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics (no, really), in which each decision and action split reality into distinct parallel universes. It’s unfathomably, almost unreasonably complex. Given this book and a distraction-free hour or two, readers will either end up looking like Jimmy on the cover—clutching their skulls in googly-eyed exasperation—or will arrive at a nifty new way of looking at reality. It’s maddening and challenging, all right, but that’s precisely what makes it so crazy fun. Grades 4-9. --Ian Chipman

Product Details

  • Age Range: 8 and up
  • Hardcover: 80 pages
  • Publisher: Amulet Books (March 1, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0810984237
  • ISBN-13: 978-0810984233
  • Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.5 x 9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Well, this *is* a book but a very unique one. Nicola Manning  |  18 reviewers made a similar statement
I hope there are more books like it because this was a complete hit for a hard to buy for kid. Jennifer Z  |  11 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Back at the ranch May 24, 2010
Format:Hardcover
Quantum physics, parallel worlds, probability, entropy. Yes it's all in a day's work for your average everyday choose your own adventure book. Now just substitute the words "average" and "everyday" in that previous sentence for "extraordinary" and "twisted" and you've got yourself a pretty good description of Jason Shiga's graphic title "Meanwhile". Simple enough in its concept and art that a ten-year-old would feel confident picking it up, yet jam packed with an insane degree of whimsy and darkness, the book isn't afraid to trust the brains, and the decisions, of its audience. "Meanwhile" is hoping that you're gonna be a pretty smart cookie if you pick it up. Better not disappoint. There could be consequences to pay along the way if you aren't, after all.

Jimmy walks into an ice cream shop. He makes his decision. Either Jimmy chooses vanilla or he chooses chocolate. From that decision, you see two Jimmys now. The vanilla Jimmy storyline suddenly develops a line that you must follow to a tab. Open the book to that tab and you see the result of his decision. Follow the line and tab that connect to the other ice cream flavor, and suddenly you're plunged into an intense storyline. Jimmy meets and befriends a local inventor who has come up with three objects. There's the time machine, the SQUID which can transfer memories, and the appropriately named Killitron that can either kill everyone in the world not inside of it or make delicious ice cream. Jimmy decides which of the three to play with and along the way discovers a horrific story behind not just the inventor's life, but his own as well.

There are plenty of impressive blurbs on the back of the book to ogle. There's one from Scott McCloud and one from Gene Luen Yang. Fine cartoonists, the both of them. However, I was delighted to find that those quotes were paired with blurbs from two authors that I read consistently and without cease as a child. R.A. Montgomery and Edward Packard are two of the writers behind those old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books of my youth. The books were notable, not just because they created a fun new format and way of reading children's literature, but also because they weren't afraid to kill the reader in a variety of grizzly ways. Usually the books were written in the second person, telling "you" exactly what "you" were up to and allowing "you" to either make the right choices or the ones destined to lead to your own mangled corpse. I appreciated that as a kid. Made the stories a little more serious for me. There was a darkness to them. A darkness that is perfectly replicated in Shiga's own book. I mean talk about a story that is not afraid to kill off its main character or, for that matter, every last human being on the planet.

Let's put everything into context here. The book is written by a guy who graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in pure mathematics. On the publication page you'll find a note that explains how the book was worked out. There were some difficulties coming up with the outline for the story. However, "With the use of a V-opt heuristic algorithm running for 12 hours on an SGI machine, the solution was finally cracked in the spring of 2000." The book would be completed a year and a half later. If your eyes started to glaze over while reading that, you're not alone. What I love about this, though, is that what you have here is a true children's book making use of math. Do you know how hard it is to find such books? Recently the only other math-minded text I've seen for kids was The Unknowns: A Mystery by Benedict Carey. Also, I should note, an Abrams publication. Abrams likes it some math, apparently. In any case, a love of letters rather than numbers isn't an impediment to enjoying this book. But for those with a penchant for figures, the byline on the cover that reads, "Pick any path. 3,856 story possibilities," will prove especially tantalizing.

Then there's the quantum physics, parallel worlds, probability, and entropy I alluded to earlier. All these concepts are here. I wouldn't use "Meanwhile" as a lesson plan necessarily, though in the hands of the right teacher I think a lot of these concepts could be taught quite painlessly. Shiga's story works in tandem with its format. The theory that every choice we make splits off into a universe where we did one thing and a world where we did the opposite has never been brought to life as brilliantly as it is here. I loved the Choose Your Own Adventure format, but there wasn't a book amongst them that questioned the very nature of choosing and choices like Shiga does. This guy's gonna blow a few minds.

About those 3,856 story possibilities . . . I think that technically that number is correct. However, for much of that time you're going to find yourself traveling in circles. Circles that become increasingly frustrating as you continue to whirl through them. You can get out with concentration, but I wonder how many folks will be willing to do that after reading the same lines for the 30th time. Eventually readers will just start reading the book straight through out of sheer frustration, and even for that move Shiga has prepared accordingly. There is one two-page spread of Jimmy riding a giant squid. If you look closely at it, you'll realize that these are the only two pages in the book without tabs to lead you there. The only way to even find it is to cheat. Pretty sneaky, Shiga.

There is one significant difference between this book and an old Choose Your Own Adventure novel. With CYOA, the reader would constantly leave their fingers stuck in the book to go back to previous turning points so that if they made the wrong decision they wouldn't have to begin at square one all over again. "Meanwhile" makes this second guessing technique impossible. It's not just the colored tabs. It's the fact that a storyline will sometimes go to a page and then zip through it to yet another tab, leaving the reader utterly baffled if they try to backtrack. There is no backtracking in this book, you see. All decisions are final. For good or for ill.

Admittedly, not everything works here. There's a whole "populating the earth" storyline that I won't go into here that doesn't make a lick of sense. There are some interesting takes on time travel that sort of play fast and loose with the rules. And, as I said before, there's the frustration you feel when you get caught in a circle and feel like you can't get out.

That said, this is also one of the bravest books I've read, marketed to small fry. It's not afraid to make them think. How do our choices affect our lives? In this book you can make Jimmy physically go one way or another and see how things could have changed had he made a different decision. And from there, it's a small step to thinking about your own life and the choices you face in your own everyday experiences. It may be a choice as mundane as choosing chocolate or vanilla ice cream, but for something so basic it's fascinating to look at how even the smallest decision can affect the rest of your life. That's a tall order for such a slim book. It is, without a doubt, one of the most original titles I've ever encountered.

Ages 10 and up.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars GreenBeanTeenQueen Reviews March 9, 2010
Format:Hardcover
About the Book: It all starts with a simple question-what flavor of ice cream, chocolate or vanilla? From there Jimmy is sent on the adventure of the reader's choice. Follow the paths and see where they lead.

GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I have been excited to read this one since I saw a starred review in Booklist. The premise intrigued me-a choose your own adventure comic? I had to check it out.

Meanwhile is the most inventive and creative book I have come across in a long time. I don't know how Jason Shiga put this book together-I'm amazed at his talent and creativity. The book doesn't read like your typical book. There are paths to follow and tabs to turn, so the reader is always moving around flipping pages and choosing new paths. Even though it's marketed as a children's book, this book is for all ages. This is one parents and children will have a blast reading together and letting each other choose which way to go.

Meanwhile is a twisty choose your own adventure comic fun. Even if you've never picked up comics before, give this book a try. It's too much fun and once you get the hang of how the book works, you won't want to stop reading. The cover says there are 3,856 story possibilities, so I'm sure Meanwhile will be keeping readers busy for a long time!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars My son loves it! December 13, 2010
Format:Hardcover
Moms shouldn't choose their son's books, and this is why. While flipping through this book made me a bit dizzy and confused, my son devoured it in one day, and has read it over and over again.

It's a choose-your-own adventure comic book - and even cooler than it sounds, if such a thing is possible.

I have to admit, if I saw Meanwhile in the bookstore, I would have picked it up, not understood it, and walked out without buying it...and my son would have missed out on this great reading experience. Not only did he really enjoy this book, but it has opened him up to comic books and graphic novels - something he had no interest in before!

The story is hysterical, the pages feel really neat to the touch (you'll see what I mean), and the artwork is colorful and engaging.

The Kid's Review:

My favorite part of the book was when Jimmy saw him self from ten minutes ago in the bathroom and threw a book at him. I recommend this book to my friends because it's funny and action-packed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars as a school teacher I heartily approve of this book
Ah, if only every book was this interesting. It's a fun take on the "choose your own adventure" format to begin with and then the story itself is even more fun and then as... Read more
Published 3 months ago by J. Haroldsen
4.0 out of 5 stars Good for unwilling readers?
My kids love this and have read it many times, but they are all very enthusiastic readers.
I think it might be a good choice for an unwilling reader - there are not too many... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Bak Jin-sing
5.0 out of 5 stars Pushes the boundaries of what a book can do
This book is very clever in many ways. The path-following "interface" is a great innovation; not only is it easier than "turn to page 394", but it's fun to use, it's playful. Read more
Published 4 months ago by John Evans
4.0 out of 5 stars Pick any Path
Fun book for any one of any age. Kinda hard not to cheat and look ahead to see where your going in the book but its worth it if you don't cheat. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Tatsuya
5.0 out of 5 stars Very few books just get better and better the more times you read them
The art is simple but the design is insane. This is a choose your own adventure style book that uses a beautiful tube mechanic for execution. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Dyb
5.0 out of 5 stars Great for young kids.
I got this book for a friends kid and they loved it her boy would go through the book and figure out the longest story lines or funnest ones as she reads to him at night. Read more
Published 8 months ago by JTS
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Choose Vanilla
As a huge fan of the graphic novel format, going back to when the format was invented back in the 80's, I found Meanwhile to be absolutely refreshing. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mark J. Pescatrice
5.0 out of 5 stars My son's favorite book for over a year and a half.
My son received this book for his 9th birthday and it interested him enough that he barely noticed when people left our house after his birthday party. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Jennifer Z
5.0 out of 5 stars A book that will be remembered as an epic part of my children's...
My husband purchased this book for our boys (aged 6 and 9) several months ago and it has permanently made its mark in our home. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Aimee Hickman
5.0 out of 5 stars Where aesthetics brilliance and humor collide
Choose your own adventures must either have a small number of choices, or be ridiculously large, or converge. There are no other options. Read more
Published 14 months ago by G. A. Foran
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