Customer Reviews

Meanwhile: Pick Any Path. 3,856 Story Possibilities.

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

As others have said, this is a brilliant idea brilliantly executed. The only issue is something I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere: navigating the book uses small tabs of the right side of the pages, and being made of very thin paper they don't hold up very well to rough handling. Handled carefully, this won't be a huge issue. But it should be enough to make you think twice about getting this book for a child who doesn't treat books with care.

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!

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.

PERFECT!

This book truly deserves that caption. I can't imagine many books that would cause an 11 year old reluctant reader to ignore his other Christmas presents (wii games, Rubik's slide, Bop It, etc.) and his beloved iPod and DS - this one has.

More than 3 hours have been spent enjoying "Meanwhile" today both in solitude and with other family members that "just have to read this!".

End of story. :)

8-11 Still Perfect

I had to ammend my review. My son had to take something to camp to do during quiet time each day. I tried to persuade him to take a chapter book worried that he would get bored. Nope, he wanted to take this book. It was the hit of the cabin. ALL of the boys LOVED this book. I will be buying this for gifts and to donate to classrooms.

I have an eight year old boy who reads way above his grade level. He loved this book so much he read / played with it for over two hours the night it arrived and then brought it to school the next day and showed it to his friends--first time he's done that with a book. It is confusing-even for me-- when you first open it and try to figure out how to follow the story but after you get the hang of it it's a breeze. 10 out of 10.

I bought this book for my classroom. As a 7th grade resource teacher, most of the students that I work with are very reluctant readers (mostly because they have dyslexia and have struggled all their lives with reading skills). I showed this book to my class and have had two students check it out already, not only so that they can read it, but so that they can share it with family members. What better recommendation?!!

I've spent the last three nights working my way through the various paths of this book. Three nights ago I would probably have given this book zero stars. It seemed I was going around and around in circles reading the same sections over and over, I had trouble following all the tubes (some tubes go through multiple pages, some tubes are just long squiggles you have to follow amidst other squiggles), I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get the access codes, and I was completely baffled by the "science" in the book - probability theory, entropy, alternate universes, etc. I had to stop myself from tearing it up, I was so infuriated.

By the second night I was down to merely irritated, yet powerfully addicted. I was starting to get a better grasp on using the tubes and I was figuring out how to get to different outcomes, though I still couldn't find the access codes. It felt like I was starting to get my head around the book.

Last night I read for nearly two hours, found many different paths through the book, including one of the access codes. It's becoming a compulsion to try to figure out the book. Jason Shiga has produced a very cleverly wrought "puzzle" which my admittedly rather linear mind is obsessively trying to "solve". I still feel like I'm a ways from really getting my head around the book, but I'm enjoying the ride. I look forward to many more nights of mind-muddling mayhem.

I'm not sure I believe that there really are 3,856 different story possibilities per se - seems more like many different ways to go around and around the same story - but being as I'm no mathmatician, I guess I'll take their word for it.

Let me say that I'm sure I'm far from the target audience for this book. I'm middle-aged, female and have never been particularly into graphic novels. I'm sure the target audience - teen/tweenage (mostly male) science fiction/graphic novel addicts - won't have so many of the difficulties I've had navigating this book. Their minds are probably also flexible enough to flow with the "science".

I recommend this book to anyone, but especially to math/science minded kids who are otherwise reluctant readers. I wouldn't start a kid too young, as s/he won't be able to comprehend the science involved, but depending on your child's interest in and understanding of science, perhaps late elementary school or junior high would be perfect.

I don't know how Shiga came up with the idea or how he pulled it off, but my hat is off.

I had a great time reading this book, for at least three reasons.

First, it's FUN. You get to eat ice cream and check out zany inventions. While you're reading the book, you're a kid on an awesome adventure. And who can resist any story that lets you decide how it turns out?

Second, without giving away too much, let me just say that the story will fascinate anyone who gets a kick out of imagining how the world could be. And I don't just mean sci-fi/fantasy fans--I'm not one myself, though I have no doubt that they will appreciate this too. I mean that the story describes a view of the world that is both fascinating and deeply satisfying from a scientific perspective.

Third--and this is what surprised me most about this book--the story is incredibly poignant at times. I definitely did not expect that from a choose-your-own-adventure comic book. I was nearly moved to tears by some pages (or panels, I should say, since the storyline twists along tubes connecting parts of different pages).

The only suggestion I have for readers is to get yourself a pack of those Post-it flags, to mark the pages you've visited already. The opening pages of the book promise a single happy ending, and it took me FOREVER to find it. I could have saved a lot of time by marking my trail (which I eventually started doing).

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone!

"Meanwhile" is more than a mind-bending approach to comics. It's a hands-on introduction to the "multiple worlds" interpretation of quantum mechanics. And it is really, really fun. If you are a fan of comics, physics, or time-travel stories, you'll dig this book.