What do you think?
Rate this book
Space Pup
Your best friend is Homer the dog, the smartest being on Earth. Homer has been taking long trips to the junkyard lately while you're at school, and returning with gifts for you that are weirder and weirder. When Homer brings you a glowing blue Frisbee that translates every language, you know this is no junkyard scrap metal find. Has Homer found a spaceship? Was anyone aboard?
72 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2014
2 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
R.A. Montgomery
156 books121 followersRaymond A. Montgomery (born 1936 in Connecticut) was an author and progenitor of the classic Choose Your Own Adventure interactive children's book series, which ran from 1979 to 2003. Montgomery graduated from Williams College and went to graduate school at Yale University and New York University (NYU). He devoted his life to teaching and education.
In 2004, he co-founded the Chooseco publishing company alongside his wife, fellow author/publisher Shannon Gilligan, with the goal of reviving the CYOA series with new novels and reissued editions of the classics.
He continued to write and publish until his death in 2014.
In 2004, he co-founded the Chooseco publishing company alongside his wife, fellow author/publisher Shannon Gilligan, with the goal of reviving the CYOA series with new novels and reissued editions of the classics.
He continued to write and publish until his death in 2014.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 23, 2021
A cat, huh? I don't recall you or your superdog, Homer, crossing paths with a cat named Zogg in either of your prior adventures—The Haunted House and Return to Haunted House—but maybe I just don't remember it. Either way, Zogg is your second pet as you begin Space Pup. After establishing in Return to Haunted House that Homer is the most intelligent being on earth, superior to humans in almost every way, you now find that he's even more than a super-sleuth capable of solving the world's great mysteries. Homer and Zogg have interstellar connections, too, and thus are able to provide you a mind-boggling alternative this summer to your plans to visit your friend Janice in Paris, France: a trip through space, where the possible destinations are virtually endless. You could discover secrets of the universe and conscious life that have never been dreamed by humanity. Do you dare pass up the opportunity?
If you elect to zoom around the galaxy with Homer and Zogg, you'll make the acquaintance of good friends of theirs, an alien race called the Squarks, on the planet Ploxx. It can be hard enough for humans of differing background to get along, so don't be disappointed if conversation with the first Squark you meet runs off the rails. Homer and Zogg have your back, two of the most formidable sentient creatures in our universe, so you shouldn't have any major problems; even if you don't choose to stick close by them, they'll make sure you don't come to harm...most of the time. There is at least one ending that may not turn out well for you, but it's hard to argue that your two household pets don't do their utmost on your behalf. What are friends for, after all? Act wisely and observe carefully, and you might realize there's something you can do when you return to earth to make our planet a better place, and be inspired to do all you can toward that end with the years of your life.
If you decide you don't want to give up a summer in lively, cozy Paris with Janice, not even for the excitement of space adventure, don't worry: you won't have to part ways with Homer and Zogg. Your loyal dog and cat are happy to go with you to France; in their own words, "Adventure is everywhere." Paris isn't as macrocosmically awesome as outer space, but you can choose to skip town in favor of Mexico if French culture is too slow for your tastes. There, in the ancient refuge of Chichén Itzá, you can explore the deeper mysteries of the galaxy alongside Homer and Zogg, just as you would have had you visited the Squarks on the planet Ploxx. In the end, wherever you go, you know your greatest blessing isn't the one-of-a-kind chance to explore this world and others at your convenience, but the fact that you have a pair of friends like Homer and Zogg, devoted to you through it all. "It is wonderful to have such good friends, you think. You hope you are as good a friend to them as they are to you." That line comes from the ending on page sixty-one of Space Pup, and surely is the best page of the book.
Return to Haunted House and now this second sequel, Space Pup, are enormously different from the original book, The Haunted House, yet they can be fun in their own way. I do like the original Bantam Skylark version of The Haunted House best of the three books; the action is disconcertingly abrupt and unfocused, but it's a good read, anyway. Former Disney background animator Keith Newton's artwork in Return to Haunted House, Space Pup, and the Dragonlark reissue of The Haunted House is colorful and enjoyable, but I'll still take the black-and-white drawings done by Paul Granger in the Bantam Skylark edition of The Haunted House. I appreciate the author dedication of Space Pup, "For Shannon", longtime wife of R.A. Montgomery and successful gamebook creator in her own right. Since Space Pup was R.A. Montgomery's last Choose Your Own Adventure solo writing credit before his death in late 2014, the book can be viewed as the final flourish to a fine career as an author and literary innovator, and it's nice that he dedicated his farewell effort to Shannon Gilligan. Space Pup may not be one of my very favorite R.A. Montgomery books, but there is some good to be found here, and I recommend it for the author's fans. Thank you, R.A. Montgomery, for a distinguished lifetime of contributions to kid lit.
If you elect to zoom around the galaxy with Homer and Zogg, you'll make the acquaintance of good friends of theirs, an alien race called the Squarks, on the planet Ploxx. It can be hard enough for humans of differing background to get along, so don't be disappointed if conversation with the first Squark you meet runs off the rails. Homer and Zogg have your back, two of the most formidable sentient creatures in our universe, so you shouldn't have any major problems; even if you don't choose to stick close by them, they'll make sure you don't come to harm...most of the time. There is at least one ending that may not turn out well for you, but it's hard to argue that your two household pets don't do their utmost on your behalf. What are friends for, after all? Act wisely and observe carefully, and you might realize there's something you can do when you return to earth to make our planet a better place, and be inspired to do all you can toward that end with the years of your life.
If you decide you don't want to give up a summer in lively, cozy Paris with Janice, not even for the excitement of space adventure, don't worry: you won't have to part ways with Homer and Zogg. Your loyal dog and cat are happy to go with you to France; in their own words, "Adventure is everywhere." Paris isn't as macrocosmically awesome as outer space, but you can choose to skip town in favor of Mexico if French culture is too slow for your tastes. There, in the ancient refuge of Chichén Itzá, you can explore the deeper mysteries of the galaxy alongside Homer and Zogg, just as you would have had you visited the Squarks on the planet Ploxx. In the end, wherever you go, you know your greatest blessing isn't the one-of-a-kind chance to explore this world and others at your convenience, but the fact that you have a pair of friends like Homer and Zogg, devoted to you through it all. "It is wonderful to have such good friends, you think. You hope you are as good a friend to them as they are to you." That line comes from the ending on page sixty-one of Space Pup, and surely is the best page of the book.
Return to Haunted House and now this second sequel, Space Pup, are enormously different from the original book, The Haunted House, yet they can be fun in their own way. I do like the original Bantam Skylark version of The Haunted House best of the three books; the action is disconcertingly abrupt and unfocused, but it's a good read, anyway. Former Disney background animator Keith Newton's artwork in Return to Haunted House, Space Pup, and the Dragonlark reissue of The Haunted House is colorful and enjoyable, but I'll still take the black-and-white drawings done by Paul Granger in the Bantam Skylark edition of The Haunted House. I appreciate the author dedication of Space Pup, "For Shannon", longtime wife of R.A. Montgomery and successful gamebook creator in her own right. Since Space Pup was R.A. Montgomery's last Choose Your Own Adventure solo writing credit before his death in late 2014, the book can be viewed as the final flourish to a fine career as an author and literary innovator, and it's nice that he dedicated his farewell effort to Shannon Gilligan. Space Pup may not be one of my very favorite R.A. Montgomery books, but there is some good to be found here, and I recommend it for the author's fans. Thank you, R.A. Montgomery, for a distinguished lifetime of contributions to kid lit.
January 5, 2023
The writing is just terrible!!!
March 4, 2018
I'm not sure how primary school kids would find this (reading it to themselves) but Miss 3 LOVES it. We have read it 7 times in under a week (and it would be more often if I didn't aim for only once a day). Talking pets, space aliens, the occasional detour to Paris; she thinks its awesome. Admittedly, with me reading it to her, I can help guide her a bit to try and have us make choices that we haven't done previously. I also tend to shorten the text on any pages we've read previously (so that the book isn't quite so long in subsequent readings as it was the first time).
It's wonderfully nostalgic for me since I read heaps of the Pick a Path / Choose Your Own adventure books as kid /teen so it was fun to find a simplified version for a younger audience.
It's wonderfully nostalgic for me since I read heaps of the Pick a Path / Choose Your Own adventure books as kid /teen so it was fun to find a simplified version for a younger audience.
October 19, 2017
I was really excited to find an early chapter book version of the Choose Your Own Adventure books. My 1st grader was a bit confused about not reading the pages in order, though. And although he could read most of the words, some of them were rather technical space terms that went over his head. I plan to try out a couple more of these. I really like giving my son the power of choice within a book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews