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Choose Your Own Adventure #6
Your Code Name Is Jonah
By making the correct decisions, the reader assists the Special Intelligence Group in rescuing a marine scientist and recovering a whale song tape from the clutches of the KGB.
114 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
5 people are currently reading
377 people want to read
About the author
Edward Packard
169 books125 followersEdward Packard attended and graduated from both Princeton University and Columbia Law School. He was one of the first authors to explore the idea of gamebooks, in which the reader is inserted as the main character and makes choices about the direction the story will go at designated places in the text.
The first such book that Edward Packard wrote in the Choose Your Own Adventure series was titled "Sugarcane Island", but it was not actually published as the first entry in the Choose Your Own Adventure Series. In 1979, the first book to be released in the series was "The Cave of Time", a fantasy time-travel story that remained in print for many years. Eventually, one hundred eighty-four Choose Your Own Adventure books would be published before production on new entries to the series ceased in 1998. Edward Packard was the author of many of these books, though a substantial number of other authors were included as well.
In 2005, Choose Your Own Adventure books once again began to be published, but none of Edward Packard's titles have yet been included among the newly-released books.
The first such book that Edward Packard wrote in the Choose Your Own Adventure series was titled "Sugarcane Island", but it was not actually published as the first entry in the Choose Your Own Adventure Series. In 1979, the first book to be released in the series was "The Cave of Time", a fantasy time-travel story that remained in print for many years. Eventually, one hundred eighty-four Choose Your Own Adventure books would be published before production on new entries to the series ceased in 1998. Edward Packard was the author of many of these books, though a substantial number of other authors were included as well.
In 2005, Choose Your Own Adventure books once again began to be published, but none of Edward Packard's titles have yet been included among the newly-released books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
November 18, 2023
The Spy Who Loved the Whales!
Well, or more precisely, it should be "The-Spy-Whose-Mission-Was-to-Figure-Out-What-the-Whales-Were-Saying-and-Protect-Them-And-Everyone-Else-From-the-Baddies." But somehow that movie inspired title doesn't have the same ring to it. Oh well.
Another CYOA from kid-hood that I found an utter delight. Thank you online used bookstore with free shipping after I empty my wallet!
Well, or more precisely, it should be "The-Spy-Whose-Mission-Was-to-Figure-Out-What-the-Whales-Were-Saying-and-Protect-Them-And-Everyone-Else-From-the-Baddies." But somehow that movie inspired title doesn't have the same ring to it. Oh well.
Another CYOA from kid-hood that I found an utter delight. Thank you online used bookstore with free shipping after I empty my wallet!
September 11, 2018
This one was definitely in my top 5. Defeating Russian spies and saving the whales at the same time? Um, that would have represented the pinnacle of achievement for a kid in elementary school in the 1980s. My code name is Jonah, you say? Hell yeah it is!
May 23, 2023
I didn't get to meet the whales.
January 11, 2010
I found it really disturbing when I made a choice that resulted in my death the first time through. I mean, even at age 11 I knew that in real life you can sometimes make a choice that results in your own death, but it had never happened to me before, and I preferred not to think about it.
It kind of haunted me even after I went back and made a different choice, because I understood that if this had been real life, I would be dead.
Somehow, the Choose Your Own Adventure books disrupted the protective promise of the novel which is this: no matter what happens in the book, it can't hurt you, you're going to be okay.
Because of this truth, I let novels take me into some scary places, and in this way, novels sheperded me through some pretty traumatic experiences unscathed, which educated me about some truths which thankfully I didn't have to experience - like losing a family member, or being lost in the wilderness, or living in Russia under Lenin (actually, I don't feel this way about Animal Farm, though, since it was based on real life and that sh*t is disturbing).
In a way, this series proves that interactive activities are not always better for learning. Unless you mean learning about scuba diving, because I will always remember not to surface too soon without decompressing. If you do, you die.
Amy
It kind of haunted me even after I went back and made a different choice, because I understood that if this had been real life, I would be dead.
Somehow, the Choose Your Own Adventure books disrupted the protective promise of the novel which is this: no matter what happens in the book, it can't hurt you, you're going to be okay.
Because of this truth, I let novels take me into some scary places, and in this way, novels sheperded me through some pretty traumatic experiences unscathed, which educated me about some truths which thankfully I didn't have to experience - like losing a family member, or being lost in the wilderness, or living in Russia under Lenin (actually, I don't feel this way about Animal Farm, though, since it was based on real life and that sh*t is disturbing).
In a way, this series proves that interactive activities are not always better for learning. Unless you mean learning about scuba diving, because I will always remember not to surface too soon without decompressing. If you do, you die.
Amy
February 25, 2025
First of many Choose Your Own Adventure spy thrillers that would include The Phantom Submarine, Sabotage, The Deadly Shadow, and Spy for George Washington, Your Code Name Is Jonah is the first series entry with fewer than thirty endings. An agent of the Special Intelligence Group, you are in a secret meeting with SIG director J.J. Obbard as the story opens. Dr. Claude DuMont, a researcher, has discovered that humpback whale songs are changing worldwide. DuMont was on the verge of cracking the code, but has vanished and it's your job to track him down, operating under the code name Jonah. Should you interview Dr. Hans Klein, a colleague of DuMont's who met with him the day before he went missing? Or would you rather question scientists at the Center for Marine Studies who closely followed DuMont's research?
Klein receives you at his Cambridge home, but doesn't talk long before Obbard dials you. SIG is tracking Anton Roudnitska, a KGB agent who may unwittingly lead you to DuMont aboard a Russian submarine. Follow Roudnitska, and you're greeted by a suspicious pair at the Halifax airport. If you refuse to enter their car, a high-speed chase through the city commences. Recklessness could sideline you for the rest of the mission, but stay on your feet and you'll overhear key information at a house owned by enemy agents. Three men departing Provincetown in a raft possess a stolen audio tape of DuMont's whale songs. You can capture the men, but might be fired upon by a submarine. If it sinks your boat, do you have the stamina to make it to shore before the cold seawater closes over your head? You are fighting to shield humpback whales from unscrupulous men learning the secret of their song, so perhaps you can count on help from the leviathan animals.
Espionage adventures splinter off in numerous directions. You might be nabbed by two portly thugs who threaten death unless you lie to DuMont on the phone. They won't hesitate to execute you. If you spent more time with Dr. Klein at the beginning, he takes you to a remote facility where DuMont keeps a copy of his whale songs tape. Hostile agents are waiting to assault you and steal the tape. Leaning into personal research on DuMont could put you in contact with his wife, who can tell you more about his science projects than even the top brass at SIG. Visit the Center for Marine Studies and you could be called away to Washington, D.C. when the U.S. president receives a message from DuMont. By the time you get there the letter is gone; a staff member must have stolen it, but can you identify who? Hidden machinations are at play. Remain instead at the Center for Marine Studies and you might accompany Dr. Renata Carini to Cape Cod, where she believes DuMont is a prisoner. Ferocious German shepherds guard the house, but penetrate the interior and you may find DuMont. Freeing him and learning the true nature of the whale songs might be the only way to keep peace on a global political scene that gets more fraught by the year.
Your Code Name Is Jonah has some appealing action, but is least impressive of the first six Choose Your Own Adventures other than Space and Beyond. The whales' secret isn't big enough to justify the fallout it causes. Edward Packard mostly tones down the politics, but that alone isn't enough to make a compelling gamebook. Paul Granger's illustrations are evocative, especially all the characters who resemble Jervis the caretaker from The Curse of the Haunted Mansion. I probably rate Your Code Name Is Jonah one and a half stars, but I'd consider the full two. It isn't as innovative as other Packard works of the era, but the story is serviceable if all you want is a mildly interesting genre piece.
Klein receives you at his Cambridge home, but doesn't talk long before Obbard dials you. SIG is tracking Anton Roudnitska, a KGB agent who may unwittingly lead you to DuMont aboard a Russian submarine. Follow Roudnitska, and you're greeted by a suspicious pair at the Halifax airport. If you refuse to enter their car, a high-speed chase through the city commences. Recklessness could sideline you for the rest of the mission, but stay on your feet and you'll overhear key information at a house owned by enemy agents. Three men departing Provincetown in a raft possess a stolen audio tape of DuMont's whale songs. You can capture the men, but might be fired upon by a submarine. If it sinks your boat, do you have the stamina to make it to shore before the cold seawater closes over your head? You are fighting to shield humpback whales from unscrupulous men learning the secret of their song, so perhaps you can count on help from the leviathan animals.
Espionage adventures splinter off in numerous directions. You might be nabbed by two portly thugs who threaten death unless you lie to DuMont on the phone. They won't hesitate to execute you. If you spent more time with Dr. Klein at the beginning, he takes you to a remote facility where DuMont keeps a copy of his whale songs tape. Hostile agents are waiting to assault you and steal the tape. Leaning into personal research on DuMont could put you in contact with his wife, who can tell you more about his science projects than even the top brass at SIG. Visit the Center for Marine Studies and you could be called away to Washington, D.C. when the U.S. president receives a message from DuMont. By the time you get there the letter is gone; a staff member must have stolen it, but can you identify who? Hidden machinations are at play. Remain instead at the Center for Marine Studies and you might accompany Dr. Renata Carini to Cape Cod, where she believes DuMont is a prisoner. Ferocious German shepherds guard the house, but penetrate the interior and you may find DuMont. Freeing him and learning the true nature of the whale songs might be the only way to keep peace on a global political scene that gets more fraught by the year.
Your Code Name Is Jonah has some appealing action, but is least impressive of the first six Choose Your Own Adventures other than Space and Beyond. The whales' secret isn't big enough to justify the fallout it causes. Edward Packard mostly tones down the politics, but that alone isn't enough to make a compelling gamebook. Paul Granger's illustrations are evocative, especially all the characters who resemble Jervis the caretaker from The Curse of the Haunted Mansion. I probably rate Your Code Name Is Jonah one and a half stars, but I'd consider the full two. It isn't as innovative as other Packard works of the era, but the story is serviceable if all you want is a mildly interesting genre piece.
February 11, 2019
"You are a clever American spy. On a special mission to Deception Island off the coast of Greenland, you discover a secret of world wide important. But- it may be dangerous to reveal this secret to anyone! Who do you trust? The whales have gone missing and their new songs are the key! What are they trying to tell us?"
The plot involves saving the whales and the KGB, which seems like a very late 70s / 80s theme. 😮 Some scientist have found that the whales are singing a different kind of song and they are trying to figure out what it means. They can tell that it is something that the whales are trying to tell us, and it’s urgent. There is a scientist who has discovered how to decode the song, but then he vanishes. And off you go on your first set of choices…
It was a pretty enjoyable read. I had fun making wrong choices and usually end up dying or getting told by my boss I was off the case. I had even more fun finally making the correct choices and actually getting the story to progress! 😮 It took me a while but I finally got there! >.> What does that say about the kind of choices I make in life?? Hmm…. I don’t think I want to think too hard on that one…
Any age can find this sort of book entertaining. Even if it’s a little bit dated, it still is so much fun that you hardly notice. I wish it had gone in to a little bit more explanation in some of the outcomes but I understand that they wanted to keep it light and breezy. I was pretty entertained and had a lot of fun reading this. 😀
The plot involves saving the whales and the KGB, which seems like a very late 70s / 80s theme. 😮 Some scientist have found that the whales are singing a different kind of song and they are trying to figure out what it means. They can tell that it is something that the whales are trying to tell us, and it’s urgent. There is a scientist who has discovered how to decode the song, but then he vanishes. And off you go on your first set of choices…
It was a pretty enjoyable read. I had fun making wrong choices and usually end up dying or getting told by my boss I was off the case. I had even more fun finally making the correct choices and actually getting the story to progress! 😮 It took me a while but I finally got there! >.> What does that say about the kind of choices I make in life?? Hmm…. I don’t think I want to think too hard on that one…
Any age can find this sort of book entertaining. Even if it’s a little bit dated, it still is so much fun that you hardly notice. I wish it had gone in to a little bit more explanation in some of the outcomes but I understand that they wanted to keep it light and breezy. I was pretty entertained and had a lot of fun reading this. 😀
August 25, 2017
A fun adventure, my son and I had a blast reading through this one, though we didn't make it all the way through. Turns out my son is the not so bright heroic type, the Russians tried to string arm us into helping them, he said not a chance, they shot us...
We will read more of these and definitely come back and try and make it further in this one next time!
We will read more of these and definitely come back and try and make it further in this one next time!
June 18, 2008
I can't tell you which Choose your own Adventure books, I read. I can't tell you which ones I didn't read... But for young boys especially, these books are so fun. Great way to hook kids who don't like to read.
May 10, 2017
Mulai sekarang, perlu juga memperhatikan keadaan sekitar jika sedang berada di air.
Seru seperti biasa. Seandainya buku seperti ini lebih banyak diterjemahkan, tentunya membuat banyak anak yang dilatih berpikir kreatif.
Seru seperti biasa. Seandainya buku seperti ini lebih banyak diterjemahkan, tentunya membuat banyak anak yang dilatih berpikir kreatif.
July 4, 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 100 títulos. Tal vez mis hijos quieran seguir el camino que yo empecé. Si quieres seguirlo, 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 100 títulos. Tal vez mis hijos quieran seguir el camino que yo empecé. Si quieres seguirlo, pasa a la página 7.
December 5, 2022
Home dates via Choose Your Own Adventures together. An excellent, highly entertaining experience. 😂
July 10, 2015
A book about the KGB and whales
19 June 2012
I know this comment has absolutely nothing to do with this book, but I definitely have to look for a way to knock Piers Anthony off the top of my most read authors list. In a way I now repent of actually reading a large chunk of his books when there are so many other better authors (fantasy, science-fiction, and otherwise) out there who haven't written anywhere near as many books as him. Fortunately there are 40 plays/long poems that Shakespeare wrote, and he is currently number 3, with 13 books reviewed. Asimov would also be in that category, but unfortunately Euripides and other ancient authors are not. Anyway, enough of this useless patter and on to the actual book on which I am supposed to be writing a commentary.
This is the 6th in the series and the first one in which the author decided to do a spy adventure. However, and I believe that I can remember this, that when you get to your first choice, if you make the wrong one, you die. I remember games like that, such as Call of Cthulu, where the whole idea of the game was not so much to get to the end of the adventure successfully, but rather how far into the adventure you can get before you inevitably die. There was a similar game like that called Paranoia, however the difference was that in that game it was not so much how long you could last before you died, but how many times you died.
I doubt that any of the gamebooks that I have read have really gone to that extreme, nor am I sure whether there were any Choose Your Own Adventure books that also went to such an extreme. I suspect Fighting Fantasy was not, but then again I believe I got up to book 9 before I began skipping them to only read the fantasy ones by Ian Livingstone. I would not be surprised however if this book was one of those books that have you ending up quite sticky at the end.
A spy based book was going to be coming out in short order anyway, particularly since the cold war, which was still raging at the time of publication, had generated a genre of its own (okay, I know, incorrect usage of the word genre, but I really do not know what the actual word you use is, and sure enough, Goodreads uses this terminology as well, despite there being a number of people on the website actually knowing what genre really is) and that is the spy novel. Sure spy novels have appeared beforehand (and Conan Doyle did have Holmes go on at least one spylike mission) but it was not until the cold war that the genre really took off.
Anyway, I can't remember much about this book except that it involves the KGB and whales, and the only reason that I know that it involves whales is because there is a whale on the front cover, and the Goodreads blurb mentions something about whale songs. However I have no idea how this is connected to the KGB or the book as a whole.
19 June 2012
I know this comment has absolutely nothing to do with this book, but I definitely have to look for a way to knock Piers Anthony off the top of my most read authors list. In a way I now repent of actually reading a large chunk of his books when there are so many other better authors (fantasy, science-fiction, and otherwise) out there who haven't written anywhere near as many books as him. Fortunately there are 40 plays/long poems that Shakespeare wrote, and he is currently number 3, with 13 books reviewed. Asimov would also be in that category, but unfortunately Euripides and other ancient authors are not. Anyway, enough of this useless patter and on to the actual book on which I am supposed to be writing a commentary.
This is the 6th in the series and the first one in which the author decided to do a spy adventure. However, and I believe that I can remember this, that when you get to your first choice, if you make the wrong one, you die. I remember games like that, such as Call of Cthulu, where the whole idea of the game was not so much to get to the end of the adventure successfully, but rather how far into the adventure you can get before you inevitably die. There was a similar game like that called Paranoia, however the difference was that in that game it was not so much how long you could last before you died, but how many times you died.
I doubt that any of the gamebooks that I have read have really gone to that extreme, nor am I sure whether there were any Choose Your Own Adventure books that also went to such an extreme. I suspect Fighting Fantasy was not, but then again I believe I got up to book 9 before I began skipping them to only read the fantasy ones by Ian Livingstone. I would not be surprised however if this book was one of those books that have you ending up quite sticky at the end.
A spy based book was going to be coming out in short order anyway, particularly since the cold war, which was still raging at the time of publication, had generated a genre of its own (okay, I know, incorrect usage of the word genre, but I really do not know what the actual word you use is, and sure enough, Goodreads uses this terminology as well, despite there being a number of people on the website actually knowing what genre really is) and that is the spy novel. Sure spy novels have appeared beforehand (and Conan Doyle did have Holmes go on at least one spylike mission) but it was not until the cold war that the genre really took off.
Anyway, I can't remember much about this book except that it involves the KGB and whales, and the only reason that I know that it involves whales is because there is a whale on the front cover, and the Goodreads blurb mentions something about whale songs. However I have no idea how this is connected to the KGB or the book as a whole.
December 2, 2019
This was the absolute first book I read in English, and I was very reluctant to read any English book at that time, so it went slow. As part of my English lessons in college I had to read a book in English and I took this one with the intention to read a few pages and then make sure Jonah dies before the lesson is over.
He actually managed to die 2 times.
He actually managed to die 2 times.
September 16, 2016
Genial, tuve otro final bueno. En realidad tuve suerte. Decidí hablar con el doctor, y cuando salí de su casa me secuestraron y me obligaron a hablar con el agente y decirle que debían hacer un pacto con los rusos, esperando que no confíe en mis palabras, pero para mi suerte, una vez que pude escapar, me enteré que había hablado con un agente falso.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2020
This book loomed LARGE in my early childhood. Just thinking about it brings back sense memories of the year I got it for Christmas.
January 20, 2019
This book is a really decent spy romp in which you are assigned the task of intercepting/protecting a secret message to keep it out of the hands of the Russians... a secret message communicated by whales! Yep, well you didn’t think it would be 100% sensible did you? Its a CYOA book after all.
Besides the entire whale thing this is actually a good book which Edward Packard clearly sunk some work into. The story is cohesive and the narrative flows nicely until you run into one of the inevitable endings. The actual meaning of the message stays the same throughout the story too, instead of changing it mid-flight as an excuse to insert more endings.
And not one extra-terrestrial to be found, for a change! Watch out for those KGB agents though; they’re just as bad!
Besides the entire whale thing this is actually a good book which Edward Packard clearly sunk some work into. The story is cohesive and the narrative flows nicely until you run into one of the inevitable endings. The actual meaning of the message stays the same throughout the story too, instead of changing it mid-flight as an excuse to insert more endings.
And not one extra-terrestrial to be found, for a change! Watch out for those KGB agents though; they’re just as bad!
November 20, 2017
Eh. Probably one of the least interesting CYOA books, but not terrible. It just felt like there were actually maybe 3 different endings, written 9 times each with mildly different wording to make it look like 27. Also, I'm still not super sure why the US and Russian governments where so intensely interested in these whales during times of war. It really didn't make a ton of sense.
But hey. For what it's worth, it was at least a little bit entertaining, and that's really all I was expecting.
But hey. For what it's worth, it was at least a little bit entertaining, and that's really all I was expecting.
July 21, 2021
Volume 6 in the Choose Your Own Adventure series, Your Code Name is Jonah, is a refreshingly straightforward spy adventure without any wacky sci-fi loose ends masquerading as endings. In fact, the vast majority of the death endings (out of 27 possible endings) in this one involve being shot by rival agents, so the maturity level of Your Code Name is Jonah is a bit higher than some of the previous series entries.
August 21, 2018
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3052804.html
A standard choose-your-own-adventure book; there are moments where you can make a good choice or a bad choice, and moments where the capriciousness of the author pushes you down one track rather than another.
A standard choose-your-own-adventure book; there are moments where you can make a good choice or a bad choice, and moments where the capriciousness of the author pushes you down one track rather than another.
August 20, 2017
Me parecio muy interesante lo de tomar desiciones, me gustaria leer todos los finales, lastima que siempre tomo malas desiciones y casi siempre muero.
March 20, 2020
Simply awful. So many names and boring conversations.
October 17, 2021
No soy muy fan de este tipo de libros, no creo que sea mi estilo pero estuvo entretenido
December 16, 2023
Creo que me gustó más hace 35 años. :)
February 6, 2024
Spy story avventurosa e ben scritta, con un paio di criticità, ma nel complesso piacevole.
February 7, 2024
I am a friend of humpback whales :D 🐋🐳
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 8, 2024
Stupid story, but still a fun time.
April 1, 2025
Too many bad endings.
January 5, 2025
Did I really survive? I got taken off the case… guess I am not spy material.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 30, 2017
Este libro cuenta una gran historia de un detective inteligente, es atrapante e intrigante.
November 7, 2011
" We have a mission ready for you to complete." That is how the beggining of the book Your Code Name is Jonah starts. My favorite part is that you get to choose your own, but my favorite path is the one that leads you to success! My favorite descriptive passages is the paragraph where you are in this house and you are looking for the kidnapped man. Just a few of the characters that are in this book would be you, the professer, a Russian spy, and the president, but the main character would have to be either you or the whales. Other books by Edward Packard would be the Cave of Time and other choose your own adventure books. I also like how you choose your own path based on instincts. You also cant read the same path twice. ( well you can but you probably wouldn't want to ) And you never know what is going to happen next...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews