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Choose Your Own Adventure #66
Secret of the Ninja
NINJUTSU IS THE ANCIENT WAY OF INVISIBILITY. WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH THE STRANGE PROBLEMS AT YOUR FRIEND NADA'S AIKIDO DOJO?
Ominous things are happening at the dojo of your good friend Nada—powerful thunderstorms in the middle of dry season, objects that seem to move by themselves, piercing sounds coming from empty rooms. Nada traces it all to the arrival of a samurai sword from an anonymous benefactor. The sword has highly unusual and distinct carvings on its hilt. Nada feels the dojo is under attack and the sword has something to do with it. From nowhere appear five ninja, armed with swords, staffs, and blades. One of the ninjas draws his sword. With shock you realize that it is the sword from Nada's dojo! You meet his attack with aikido defense, grabbing the ninja's sword arm with your left hand. The sword flies off to your right. If you go for the sword, turn to page 18. If you go for the ninja, turn to page 108. YOU choose what happens next!
Ominous things are happening at the dojo of your good friend Nada—powerful thunderstorms in the middle of dry season, objects that seem to move by themselves, piercing sounds coming from empty rooms. Nada traces it all to the arrival of a samurai sword from an anonymous benefactor. The sword has highly unusual and distinct carvings on its hilt. Nada feels the dojo is under attack and the sword has something to do with it. From nowhere appear five ninja, armed with swords, staffs, and blades. One of the ninjas draws his sword. With shock you realize that it is the sword from Nada's dojo! You meet his attack with aikido defense, grabbing the ninja's sword arm with your left hand. The sword flies off to your right. If you go for the sword, turn to page 18. If you go for the ninja, turn to page 108. YOU choose what happens next!
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
10 people are currently reading
296 people want to read
About the author
Jay Leibold
36 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 - 30 of 46 reviews
January 14, 2008
Be warned!!! This is a very difficult book.
My outcomes were as follows:
1. Arrested for B & E (opposing clan's dojo) THE END
2. Burned alive in a ninja launched fire ball THE END
3. Accidently pushed key witness off a cliff THE END
4. I fell off the same cliff THE END
5. Caught in trap on a forest path THE END
6. Assassinated by ninjas THE END
7. After my companion is captured by ninjas, I am forced to decide between joining the evil ninjas and death THE END
8. I solve the riddle of the ninja spirit, build a shrine to honor him and live happly ever after. Whew!!! THE END
There are 21 additional possible endings, but my self confidence is shot. No need to push my luck with the ninjas.
My outcomes were as follows:
1. Arrested for B & E (opposing clan's dojo) THE END
2. Burned alive in a ninja launched fire ball THE END
3. Accidently pushed key witness off a cliff THE END
4. I fell off the same cliff THE END
5. Caught in trap on a forest path THE END
6. Assassinated by ninjas THE END
7. After my companion is captured by ninjas, I am forced to decide between joining the evil ninjas and death THE END
8. I solve the riddle of the ninja spirit, build a shrine to honor him and live happly ever after. Whew!!! THE END
There are 21 additional possible endings, but my self confidence is shot. No need to push my luck with the ninjas.
July 21, 2012
First choose your own I ever read, a special place in my heart for turning me in to this series -- and very, very suspenseful to my young imagination.
September 27, 2021
I like choose your own adventure bc I like a book that starts with a "WARNING!!!" and instructions on how to read it (NOT from beginning to end, ya dangus!!)
I found all the endings bc I cheat and use all ten fingers as bookmarks 🖐️✌️🤟
I found all the endings bc I cheat and use all ten fingers as bookmarks 🖐️✌️🤟
September 25, 2020
This was the first choose your own adventure book my boys picked out. They had fun with the concept, but I've got to think they're disappointed that we made it all the way to a happy ending and didn't see one ninja. On top of that, the story wasn't super interesting. Basically some bad stuff's going down at the dojo, and we're guessing the sword that was recently mailed with an unknown sender is to blame. There are two main characters, the reader and Nada, who should be called "exposition girl" as all she does is tell you what Japanese words mean and talk about her ancestors.
My boys picked the following path: Decide who sent the sword. Next, don't do research into it. After that, they didn't throw the sword overboard. Then they met up with some underwater mer people who took the sword off our hands for a happy ending. Not super exciting, even though there was a plane crash involved in it. Still, I always enjoyed the concept of these books and am looking forward to revisiting more of them with the kids.
My boys picked the following path: Decide who sent the sword. Next, don't do research into it. After that, they didn't throw the sword overboard. Then they met up with some underwater mer people who took the sword off our hands for a happy ending. Not super exciting, even though there was a plane crash involved in it. Still, I always enjoyed the concept of these books and am looking forward to revisiting more of them with the kids.
July 21, 2022
Actual Rating: 2.5
Entertaining enough I guess? I used to love CYOA books as a kid, so it gets an extra half a star for those nostalgia points, but it's a pretty mediocre one from the bunch, I think. Part of it was that the plot is pretty reliant on a mystery, and once you figure it out through one ending, it becomes a little repetitive to *keep* figuring out the same mystery, over and over, just through different methods. I'm also highly suspicious of the fact that they picked a white man to write it????? and a white woman to illustrate it???? mmmmmmmaybe not the vibe, and it shows.
But I did really like the note at the end about the history of game books! I didn't know Borges (an Argentinian author) wrote the first branching story, and now I'm obsessed with this fact and want to read it asap.
Entertaining enough I guess? I used to love CYOA books as a kid, so it gets an extra half a star for those nostalgia points, but it's a pretty mediocre one from the bunch, I think. Part of it was that the plot is pretty reliant on a mystery, and once you figure it out through one ending, it becomes a little repetitive to *keep* figuring out the same mystery, over and over, just through different methods. I'm also highly suspicious of the fact that they picked a white man to write it????? and a white woman to illustrate it???? mmmmmmmaybe not the vibe, and it shows.
But I did really like the note at the end about the history of game books! I didn't know Borges (an Argentinian author) wrote the first branching story, and now I'm obsessed with this fact and want to read it asap.
March 27, 2025
This one is a little confusing, since the ISBN is for a different book entirely (978-1-937133-30-6), but it's clearly a reprint of the book of the same name and plot.
It also, I think, outlines EXACTLY what all the choices are, since it seems to follow how I read the book to chronologically follow each thread* (each arrow on a non-branching line is a non-decision, like "Turn to the next page.") including the two paths where it led back to an alternate decision (e.g. two points in the narrative where I could decide to stop going along with a certain party and instead explore on my own).
Mostly, though, I'm sort of "meh" at the treatment of the whole thing: Most of the endings where you ACTUALLY meet Zeus, it's sort of like it hits a checkmark, "Okay, that's ending #24" or whatever. Like, Zeus will just do a LITERAL Deus Ex Machina and come out of nowhere to say, "Yeah, yeah, here's me, I'll give you the thing just because." Except for the bad endings** where Zeus does NOT give you the thing (for various reasons including you died), the endings are a bit silly, like... here's this all-powerful GOD who is just watching you out of boredom and decides, "Sure, kid, I'll give your folks a roadmap to eternal fame and fortune, why not." Written exactly that way in a dozen different ways (including you woke up and wondered if it was a dream).
Mostly I'm annoyed that Daedalus—CREATOR of the labyrinth—is himself lost in it *and doesn't know how to get out.* EVERY OTHER WORK I've read featuring Daedalus portrays him as an underappreciated creative genius. This one treats him as sort of a mad scientist who lost the keys to the safe where he kept the password after writing it down and forgetting it. What creative genius wouldn't foresee potentially getting lost in his own maze (especially WHILE STILL BUILDING IT) and devise some fail-safe to get out?
(Actually, I'm pretty sure that's part of the myth, too, that... DUH... how are you locking the locksmith in a prison with locks the locksmith himself fitted? Or designing a computer and not having root access.)
It's also sub-optimally laid out, like, you'll have a decision, either to do A and go to page whatever, or do B and... go to the next page, where the choice is on the LEFT PAGE and the next page is the RIGHT PAGE.
SPOILERS, Y'ALL.
Most of the twist endings are good, by which I mean the ones where you make an unusual decision, and it leads to a happy ending but not the intended one, such as . I mean, there are only a few violent endings, at least, but I'm mostly annoyed by the "sameness" of the "Zeus gives you the treasure map" endings.
Other than one, which is where Zeus actually goes to your house and greets your folks like The Dude:
On the whole... I've read worse, I think, but not recently. I'm particularly annoyed "you" didn't recognise Hermes or remember how things went with Phaeton. I mean, if this is all taught as "ancient history," then why don't you remember some extremely basic things? I hadn't thought about Phaeton in a VERY long time, and I still remembered. I don't know. An okay read if you sort of like Greek mythology, but not so okay if you REALLY like Greek mythology.
*Doable with at least three bookmarks: Bookmark the first decision point, choose the one that's likely to go to an ending, then put another bookmark if it doesn't end, etc., go back and remove the bookmark after taking the second choice. It doesn't get more complicated than two decisions at any branch, since there are 30 endings.
**I was disappointed that one of the story branches is . I know they do the whole "You can't change history" for Icarus's death (although ), but it kind of sucks that you're given the peaceful option, and it only ends up poorly.
It also, I think, outlines EXACTLY what all the choices are, since it seems to follow how I read the book to chronologically follow each thread* (each arrow on a non-branching line is a non-decision, like "Turn to the next page.") including the two paths where it led back to an alternate decision (e.g. two points in the narrative where I could decide to stop going along with a certain party and instead explore on my own).
Mostly, though, I'm sort of "meh" at the treatment of the whole thing: Most of the endings where you ACTUALLY meet Zeus, it's sort of like it hits a checkmark, "Okay, that's ending #24" or whatever. Like, Zeus will just do a LITERAL Deus Ex Machina and come out of nowhere to say, "Yeah, yeah, here's me, I'll give you the thing just because." Except for the bad endings** where Zeus does NOT give you the thing (for various reasons including you died), the endings are a bit silly, like... here's this all-powerful GOD who is just watching you out of boredom and decides, "Sure, kid, I'll give your folks a roadmap to eternal fame and fortune, why not." Written exactly that way in a dozen different ways (including you woke up and wondered if it was a dream).
Mostly I'm annoyed that Daedalus—CREATOR of the labyrinth—is himself lost in it *and doesn't know how to get out.* EVERY OTHER WORK I've read featuring Daedalus portrays him as an underappreciated creative genius. This one treats him as sort of a mad scientist who lost the keys to the safe where he kept the password after writing it down and forgetting it. What creative genius wouldn't foresee potentially getting lost in his own maze (especially WHILE STILL BUILDING IT) and devise some fail-safe to get out?
(Actually, I'm pretty sure that's part of the myth, too, that... DUH... how are you locking the locksmith in a prison with locks the locksmith himself fitted? Or designing a computer and not having root access.)
It's also sub-optimally laid out, like, you'll have a decision, either to do A and go to page whatever, or do B and... go to the next page, where the choice is on the LEFT PAGE and the next page is the RIGHT PAGE.
SPOILERS, Y'ALL.
Most of the twist endings are good, by which I mean the ones where you make an unusual decision, and it leads to a happy ending but not the intended one, such as . I mean, there are only a few violent endings, at least, but I'm mostly annoyed by the "sameness" of the "Zeus gives you the treasure map" endings.
Other than one, which is where Zeus actually goes to your house and greets your folks like The Dude:
On the whole... I've read worse, I think, but not recently. I'm particularly annoyed "you" didn't recognise Hermes or remember how things went with Phaeton. I mean, if this is all taught as "ancient history," then why don't you remember some extremely basic things? I hadn't thought about Phaeton in a VERY long time, and I still remembered. I don't know. An okay read if you sort of like Greek mythology, but not so okay if you REALLY like Greek mythology.
*Doable with at least three bookmarks: Bookmark the first decision point, choose the one that's likely to go to an ending, then put another bookmark if it doesn't end, etc., go back and remove the bookmark after taking the second choice. It doesn't get more complicated than two decisions at any branch, since there are 30 endings.
**I was disappointed that one of the story branches is . I know they do the whole "You can't change history" for Icarus's death (although ), but it kind of sucks that you're given the peaceful option, and it only ends up poorly.
January 1, 2020
I hadn’t read one of these since I was a kid. So I did a buddy read with my 8 year old. He made notes with his choices and then I read it and did the same. Then we compared our stories. It was a very fun way to read this. My son loved it and we are going to try this again with some other Choose Your Own Adventure books.
January 9, 2008
it was cool because I like ninja's and samuri's.
July 5, 2020
La serie de Elige tu propia aventura es, literalmente, un clásico de nuestra infancia. He releído algunos, años después, y me parecen un poco cortos de miras, limitados en las posibilidades, pero cuando tenía 10 años cada uno de ellos era una maravilla lista para ser explorada hasta que hubiera dado todo lo que tenía dentro.
Al final siempre sabías que ibas a recorrer todos y cada uno de los caminos posibles. La emoción estaba, por tanto, en ganar y pasarte la historia al primer intento. Si no podías, pues nada, seguro que en el intento 18 acababas encontrando el camino. A veces los autores iban "a pillar", poniéndote los resultados buenos detrás de decisiones que eran claramente anómalas.
Recuerdo haber aprendido tanto palabras como hechos y datos en estos libros. No nadar contra la corriente cuando quieres llegar a tierra, dónde colocarse cuando un avión va a despegar, un montón de cosas interesantes y un montón de historias vividas, decenas por cada libro, que convirtieron a las serie en una colección fractal, donde cada vez podías elegir un libro nuevo entre los que ya tenías.
Llegué hasta el tomo 54 y dejé de tener interés por la serie, pero la serie siguió hasta superar los 180 títulos. Tal vez mis hijos quieran seguir el camino que yo empecé. Si quieres que lo sigan, pasa a la página 7.
Al final siempre sabías que ibas a recorrer todos y cada uno de los caminos posibles. La emoción estaba, por tanto, en ganar y pasarte la historia al primer intento. Si no podías, pues nada, seguro que en el intento 18 acababas encontrando el camino. A veces los autores iban "a pillar", poniéndote los resultados buenos detrás de decisiones que eran claramente anómalas.
Recuerdo haber aprendido tanto palabras como hechos y datos en estos libros. No nadar contra la corriente cuando quieres llegar a tierra, dónde colocarse cuando un avión va a despegar, un montón de cosas interesantes y un montón de historias vividas, decenas por cada libro, que convirtieron a las serie en una colección fractal, donde cada vez podías elegir un libro nuevo entre los que ya tenías.
Llegué hasta el tomo 54 y dejé de tener interés por la serie, pero la serie siguió hasta superar los 180 títulos. Tal vez mis hijos quieran seguir el camino que yo empecé. Si quieres que lo sigan, pasa a la página 7.
February 2, 2019
I remembered really loving these books as a kid. I loved that you had some (however little) control of the direction the story took. That still held true. However, even though I read through the book several times making different choices along the way, whenever I got to the end, I never felt a sense of completion. The mystery is never fully solved. The words "The End" signal to stop reading, but I don't feel as though it should really be the end. They seem rather incomplete.
March 7, 2024
I liked this book because books that let you choose what to do is real fun. Plus, I've been into Greek Mythology lately. I like how it cuts into the real stories and you can change it up a little. So it's really your own adventure!
November 20, 2017
Pretty silly but entertaining anyway.
March 13, 2019
É uma leitura infantil, mas muito bacana, pois o leitor faz escolhas e participa da trajetória da história.
June 5, 2020
Unfortunately, Not as fun or entertaining as the "choose your own adventure" of my youth.
August 9, 2020
Most of the endings were bad, and the good ones had no closure.
January 30, 2021
really good but there's some violence in this one... they describe the ninjas and characters well and the story is a little different this time but overall amazing!
February 4, 2021
This book is a cool book were you choose your own adventure like it says on the cover its about you on a adventure of the secret of the ninja.
May 7, 2021
Muito bom para iniciar alguém a ter o hábito da leitura, especialmente se for alguém bem jovem.
July 2, 2022
This was a good one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2023
4 stars out of nostalgia: this was my first "choose your own adventure" book. It was nice to reread after so many years!
November 25, 2023
Si eliges todo el rato la opción incorrecta, el libro se lee rapidísimo...
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July 2, 2024bruh i got the boring ending and it took me like 20 mins 😩😩😩😩
July 5, 2024
decent writing but they all kinda end the same way?
November 28, 2024
The illustration of one of the ninjustsu is very creepy.
May 2, 2025
3.75 stars. This was fun!
August 22, 2025
annoying
July 25, 2018
⭐⭐⭐
Bueno, lo primero que hay que decir de este libro es que es MUY CONFUSO.
Si bien nunca había leído algo como esto, no me pareció muy original y no me encantó. Creo que los personajes son un meh, la trama un meh y nada más le puse tres estrellas porque:
* Fue mi primer libro sobre ninjas.
* Fue mi primer libro de elige tu propia historia, que terminé completo.
* Lo disfruté, pero no me encantó.
Sobre los finales llegué a todos armando una red conceptual. Y si, parece más una tarea del colegio que algo para disfrutar leyendo, pero lo logré y puedo saber que hay más de dos finales bueno y malos.
Redondeando, creo que es una lectura para experimentar, no lo recomiendo si están buscando una super trama con unos super personajes.
⭐⭐⭐
Bueno, lo primero que hay que decir de este libro es que es MUY CONFUSO.
Si bien nunca había leído algo como esto, no me pareció muy original y no me encantó. Creo que los personajes son un meh, la trama un meh y nada más le puse tres estrellas porque:
* Fue mi primer libro sobre ninjas.
* Fue mi primer libro de elige tu propia historia, que terminé completo.
* Lo disfruté, pero no me encantó.
Sobre los finales llegué a todos armando una red conceptual. Y si, parece más una tarea del colegio que algo para disfrutar leyendo, pero lo logré y puedo saber que hay más de dos finales bueno y malos.
Redondeando, creo que es una lectura para experimentar, no lo recomiendo si están buscando una super trama con unos super personajes.
⭐⭐⭐
August 12, 2013
I liked the book because it was cool and awesome especially one ending. When I was behind a sliding door I saw Miryamoto and after waiting for him to become defenseless I striked at him super hard!!
I thought Nada and the sensei were super wise. I thought this at the beginning when they were trying to track down the donor of the sword.
The format of the book was good but at some parts they were dead ends but it was still enjoyable.
I thought Nada and the sensei were super wise. I thought this at the beginning when they were trying to track down the donor of the sword.
The format of the book was good but at some parts they were dead ends but it was still enjoyable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2011
Bought this for my sons a few years back. Re-read it and found it just as fun to make my choices in the stories (even though they usually take you to same conclusion). I am working on writing an adult version for an office adventure.
March 3, 2016
I remember enjoying Choose Your Own Adventure books when I was little. When I came across this book at a library sale, I was excited to use it to introduce my kids to the series. While it was fun to see what choices they made as we went along, the story itself is a little strange.
PG
PG
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews