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Choose Your Own Adventure #48
Spy for George Washington
Book by Jay Leibold
115 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1985
About the author
Jay Leibold
39 books4 followersPseudonym used by Jay Montavon. Author of fifteen books in the original Choose Your Own Adventure series, including the five-book "Secret of the Ninja" saga.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 7, 2026
After a detour into mysticism for Grand Canyon Odyssey, Jay Leibold's third Choose Your Own Adventure—Spy for George Washington—is a return to historical fiction. Brooklyn, New York, 1777: the fledgling United States of America asserted independence from the British a year ago, but the outcome remains up in the air. Despite your youth, you want a hand in the fight for freedom, so you meet a man named Robert Smith at the Red Lion Tavern to ask how you can help. He has a crucial job for you: hand deliver a letter to General George Washington warning that the British are planning a raid on his current location. You're eager to leave tonight, but should you listen to that impulse or get a full night's sleep first?
Take the night to rest, and your point man, Captain McGillicuddy, offers you either a land or sea route to sneak past the British Redcoat troops. Choose land, and you wind up adrift in a rowboat regardless. When a British frigate pulls you aboard you'll be interrogated, but if you avoid giving away the game, you learn the letter you carry is addressed to a Hubert Hogglebottom, not General Washington. Stopping for the night at an inn, you notice a Hubert Hogglebottom is also staying there. If you resist the temptation to show him your letter, you may find yourself that same day with General Washington, learning the secret of the letter. Had you approached Hogglebottom, trouble ensues, but is the man a British loyalist or a hidden American ally? If you elected at first to embark on your mission by sea, then you, McGillicuddy, and crew set sail on his whaleboat, but encounter a severe storm on the East River. Waiting it out takes too long; leave the ship to go by land, and you meet a runaway slave named John. Can you work together to achieve your goal and his? If you pushed the ship full speed ahead past the storm, you become trapped in a cannon-fire exchange between a British warship and an American schooner. The Brits won't turn a blind eye; they have the firepower to sink your vessel. Smart strategy can beat the odds and leave you with a great triumph to report when you meet Washington.
What if you were too impatient to sleep that first night, and left directly for your mission? On horseback down a rural path, a shadowy figure calls to you. Stop to converse and you are greeted with words that form a code, about attacking a "Knight-Errant." Play along, and you're welcomed into a group of hooded men and women who are allowed freedom of travel by the Redcoats. The group’s two leaders—a man named Arzod and a woman called the Countess—are plotting to assassinate Washington. Choose your time for action wisely, and you could prevent his death. If you never met Arzod, an unidentified pursuer chases you in the woods. You might be captured by a Hessian mercenary, who speaks mostly German and is paid by the British. Claim to be working for British General Howe, and the Hessian escorts you to the man's office. Howe employs unsettling psychological tactics to get you to confess what you know, but navigate the war of words just right and you walk away free. Avoid the Hessian in the first place and you run into a Mohawk Indian. You're injured, but what should you say when he wants to take you to a British hospital? Can you play politics well enough to survive? Perhaps you escape the Mohawk and seek refuge with a Quaker woman, but is she, too, a British loyalist? A good-faith debate about wartime morality and standing firm on conviction can go further than you expect.
Spy for George Washington is definitely superior to Grand Canyon Odyssey, but does it improve on Jay Leibold's first entry in the series, Sabotage? Not significantly. I love the stakes—alerting General Washington to a catastrophic attack on his person, thrusting you centerstage in the war for American independence—but the narrative action varies in quality. Some scenes are rich in detail and exciting, while others are nothing more than words on a page. Leibold doesn't bungle the concept, but neither does he produce what could have been one of the most stirring of all Choose Your Own Adventures. I’ll return to Spy for George Washington occasionally for a reread, but it's hardly an essential of the gamebook genre.
Take the night to rest, and your point man, Captain McGillicuddy, offers you either a land or sea route to sneak past the British Redcoat troops. Choose land, and you wind up adrift in a rowboat regardless. When a British frigate pulls you aboard you'll be interrogated, but if you avoid giving away the game, you learn the letter you carry is addressed to a Hubert Hogglebottom, not General Washington. Stopping for the night at an inn, you notice a Hubert Hogglebottom is also staying there. If you resist the temptation to show him your letter, you may find yourself that same day with General Washington, learning the secret of the letter. Had you approached Hogglebottom, trouble ensues, but is the man a British loyalist or a hidden American ally? If you elected at first to embark on your mission by sea, then you, McGillicuddy, and crew set sail on his whaleboat, but encounter a severe storm on the East River. Waiting it out takes too long; leave the ship to go by land, and you meet a runaway slave named John. Can you work together to achieve your goal and his? If you pushed the ship full speed ahead past the storm, you become trapped in a cannon-fire exchange between a British warship and an American schooner. The Brits won't turn a blind eye; they have the firepower to sink your vessel. Smart strategy can beat the odds and leave you with a great triumph to report when you meet Washington.
What if you were too impatient to sleep that first night, and left directly for your mission? On horseback down a rural path, a shadowy figure calls to you. Stop to converse and you are greeted with words that form a code, about attacking a "Knight-Errant." Play along, and you're welcomed into a group of hooded men and women who are allowed freedom of travel by the Redcoats. The group’s two leaders—a man named Arzod and a woman called the Countess—are plotting to assassinate Washington. Choose your time for action wisely, and you could prevent his death. If you never met Arzod, an unidentified pursuer chases you in the woods. You might be captured by a Hessian mercenary, who speaks mostly German and is paid by the British. Claim to be working for British General Howe, and the Hessian escorts you to the man's office. Howe employs unsettling psychological tactics to get you to confess what you know, but navigate the war of words just right and you walk away free. Avoid the Hessian in the first place and you run into a Mohawk Indian. You're injured, but what should you say when he wants to take you to a British hospital? Can you play politics well enough to survive? Perhaps you escape the Mohawk and seek refuge with a Quaker woman, but is she, too, a British loyalist? A good-faith debate about wartime morality and standing firm on conviction can go further than you expect.
Spy for George Washington is definitely superior to Grand Canyon Odyssey, but does it improve on Jay Leibold's first entry in the series, Sabotage? Not significantly. I love the stakes—alerting General Washington to a catastrophic attack on his person, thrusting you centerstage in the war for American independence—but the narrative action varies in quality. Some scenes are rich in detail and exciting, while others are nothing more than words on a page. Leibold doesn't bungle the concept, but neither does he produce what could have been one of the most stirring of all Choose Your Own Adventures. I’ll return to Spy for George Washington occasionally for a reread, but it's hardly an essential of the gamebook genre.
April 20, 2014
Entertaining 30 minute adventure. I loved them as a kid but they have a lot to give when your a bit older too...
September 30, 2026
Boring compared to many others in this genre, so many abrupt and unfulfilling and dull endings. The edition I had has some nice simple updated History Facts - I guess to encourage kids to learn history from this, although I can’t say it inspired me to care.
October 18, 2019
Fun choose-your-own-adventure
May 25, 2026
Storia a bivi avventurosa, con un interessante tema storico, condotta abbastanza bene e con una certa varietà.
August 10, 2026
This was a hoot and I can’t wait to collect more so I can give them to my future children
September 20, 2011
These sorts of boooks were among if not the most cherished books of my childhood. This is mainly for the reason that they gave me a choice, a say into how the story unfolded on the pages before me. These types of books are unique both in the experience they give the reader, and the challenege that they pose to those who dare to write them. It was reading through these stories one after another, that I began to realize that even more than following along with a good story, I enjoyed conducting the evnts of the story for myself. They also allowed me to better explore myself based on the choices I made and where they led me. I gauged my decision-making abilities and my sensibilities on the path I chose in the story. Even today, I would not dare to attempt to write a story such as these. As I have grown as a writer, I have only grown in my appreciation for this sort of book and the titanic task it is to ensure that every story path coalesces somehow into a believable and workable story. Only once have I ever found any inconsistancies in the story (though it wasa big one), and that was not in this book. This one, is probably the best Choose Your Own Adventure Story I have ever had the pleasure to look over.
In the end though, this is a children's book and it meets this demographic very neatly. I have not read this story since I was a child, but the memories are enough to make me wish I had.
In the end though, this is a children's book and it meets this demographic very neatly. I have not read this story since I was a child, but the memories are enough to make me wish I had.
August 19, 2015
Well...it was OK, it had its moments. I was actually hoping for something a lot more educational about the Revolutionary War for my daughter, and of course that in most of the storylines, you would get to actually meet George Washington or some of the other Founding Fathers.
Never happened. And a lot of choices seemed to be false choices--no matter which option you choose, the storyline has the same result. Example: It's really disrespectful of the whole "choice" paradigm!
Never happened. And a lot of choices seemed to be false choices--no matter which option you choose, the storyline has the same result. Example: It's really disrespectful of the whole "choice" paradigm!
December 28, 2018
I like the historical fiction-type CYOA books. They remind me of the Time Machine series, which I also enjoyed a lot. I would rate this entry higher if there was less repetition among the multiple story threads.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews