Review: Nostalgic for me, Great Reading for Ages 9-12
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 4, 2014
As a child, I was absolutely crazed for the CHOOSE-YOUR-OWN-ADVENTURE series and the like, buying every one of them at the monthly book fairs.  Of course, over time, my tastes "matured" towards Steve Jackson's battle books and Infcom's seminal text-based adventures,  but even to this day, a great many moons later, I have the fondest memories of me and my best friend in 6th grade sitting down together with our haul of pick-a-path books and devouring them.When it came to my attention that pick-a-path books were finally making their way to the Kindle,  I was deeply intrigued.  I have a few downloaded now,  but PIRATE ISLAND was the first one I read.  Hah!  Talk about evoking nostalgia!  D M Potter and Blair Polly have put in a lot of  environmental imagery and detail, the individual's passages being quite longer than the old paperbacks of the early 80s, yet maintaining story clarity throughout the various paths, some looping back on each other.  The authors also sneak in asides like scientific facts and phenomenon (I learned what "Triboluminescence" is).Some paths are fatal, one successful ending was a touch corny, and although the individual passages are long, there are only 32 paths available.  There are British spellings used ("manoeuver" vs "maneuver", "colour" vs "color", etc), the dialogue of a native friend is bland and rather "non-native", and it seems the authors are keen on using the word "keen".  However, these things aside, your average 9-12 year old isn't going to care.  What they care about is adventure, a touch of danger, and the satisfaction of winning!  And PIRATE ISLAND is an unearthed treasure in that respect.