Murder at the Old Willow Boarding School

by Jessika Fleck, Brian Anderson (Illustrator), Gabhor Utomo (Illustrator)

In Murder at the Old Willow Boarding School, YOU need to solve a murder… your own! You go to breakfast with your friends and feel strangely alone. No one looks at you and no one is answering your questions. It’s not until you hear a scream and rush to the library to find the sight of your lifeless body that you realize YOU ARE DEAD. Thus begins Murder at the Old Willow Boarding School, where you must figure out which of your classmates can and can’t be trusted and who among the students at this academy for gifted children is behind such an awful crime. Now, as you investigate, you begin to suspect the killer plans to strike again. The search for your murderer turns into a quest to prevent another killing. Murder at the Old Willow Boarding School is written by noted middle-grade author Jessika Fleck and takes the reader on an adventure through the haunted halls of. You need to discover how to communicate with your fellow classmates as a ghost―but who can you trust? Choose Your Own Adventure is the bestselling gamebook series of all time. Empowering generations of children through choice, it is widely commended for its appeal to reluctant readers.

Genres: Mystery, Choose Your Own Adventure, Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

Published October 3, 2023

About the author

Jessika Fleck is a writer, voracious coffee drinker, and knitter—she sincerely hopes to one day discover a way to do all three at once. Until then, she continues failing to resurrect house plants, taking care of museum collections, and slowly working toward goal of becoming a genuine 'cat lady'. Her YA fantasy, BEWARE THE NIGHT (Macmillan), received a coveted starred review from School Library Journal. Her most recent project, THE CURSE OF GREAT WINTER ACADEMY (A Choose Your Own Adventure book) releases May 6, 2025! More at www.jessikafleck.com

Reviews

[Bo📚 Griffiths · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Choose Your Own Adventures are back BAY-BEE!!

This was my childhood. I read dozens of these things that I found at thrift stores. Color me surprised when I saw the booth next to mine at Pride selling these. So I picked a couple up. This was my first foray and I did a couple of read throughs.

You wake up one morning and find your dead body on the floor of the library. You're a ghost with limited ability to act on the material plane. You have to solve your own murder.

Good stakes, great kids fare. It never really dips in to horror it's more supernatural mystery. The first ending I got was very.. abrupt. It didn't feel like a conclusion was being reached just one innocuous decision fixed everything. It didn't feel like I earned it. It was just "Well out of time for this thread so let's drop in an ending."

It does feel less capricious than the classic CYOAs in which seemingly basic decisions (or even what seems like the obvious right decision) get you killed instantly. So this wasn't the best but it's also for kids. I think it could have stood to be a bit longer and develop its threads a bit more.

[S S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've not read a Choose Your Own Adventure book in years. I read them as a kid, but as an adult, I haven't really seen any that caught my interest. But I'm a sucker for a good ghost story and for some reason my kids really like getting spooked so this book was perfect! We've had great fun running--floating--around a creepy old private school trying to get the attention of other students while searching for our elusive murderer. We've only just begun to experience what this book has to offer, because out of 23 endings, we've only gotten to 4! That's what I love about these books, they're literally re-readable! One thing I've noticed that's different than the classic Choose Your Own Adventure Books is that this one is much more detailed and rich in it's characters and setting, something I always felt was lacking in the originals. Anyway, I DEFINITELY recommend this read to kids and adults, alike! Perfect for spooky season!

[Chrysa Chouliara · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a treat!

CYOA books have always been my guilty pleasure during childhood. Stumbling upon a new title at age 42 -featuring pronouns and a gender neutral character gave me the right excuse to snatch it. As a non native English speaker I suddenly I had the urge to "brush-up my grammar" and learn using the correct terms respectfully. And what better way than spending a couple of hours on a lazy evening (possibly alienating my nearly furious partner) flipping back and forth discovering EVERY possible ending inside this small but adorable book.

Call me emotionally immature if you please but I haven't got that much fun in decades. Plus the illustrations from the uber-talented Gabhor Utomo are adorable. Cute cover too! A must read for all the 80s kids.

And now back to "Crime and Punishment." Oh well!

PS: One thing that made it stand out was the fully fleshed characters. A huge upgrade for the series.

[Tom Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lot of fun. I read these CYOA books many, many years ago when they first came out and when I heard that they were coming out with new ones, I took the opportunity at PAX and bought this along with an older one. In this book you basically play a young, "gifted" student who is now dead... murdered. It is your goal to figure out not only who and why. I will admit it took me a few times through to get to both of these. The concept was interesting, Pearl was a fun character and all in all just a fun read. Again these are not for adults, but read them for nostalgia.

[Bexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was interesting, but felt inconsistent with what Pearl could do as a ghost, and I disliked that they had to split the story in so many page so they didn't accidentally reveal more of the story before you chose it. The illustrations were fun and this is still a great book for a middle schooler.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed choose-your-own-adventure books as a kid, so it was a delight to read this different take on it. In this book, you are already dead and trying to solve the mystery of who killed you. Whereas most c-y-o-a in my experience were trying to find the adventure ending that didn’t end as a deadly escapade.

[Juju · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was excited to get into these kinds of books again. I realize they’re for kids but the premise seemed super cool and spooky + had illustrations! But omg I was met with dead ends left and right - just seemed like really bad story crafting to not get anywhere after only two decision points. Would have loved a meatier story even if it made for fewer but more significant choices.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had fun introducing my daughter to this choose your own adventure book! She thought it was fun to be able to go back and try again if you get it wrong.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A choose your own adventure where you are solving your own murder. Very clever tracks and stories! I enjoyed it a lot.