The Call of the Wild

Choose Your Own Ever After #2

by Julie Fison

Phoebe Wright and her besties Annabel and Kimmi have been invited to the coolest party of the year! But when Phoebe realizes it's on the same night as her Wild Club's movie night fundraiser, she's totally torn about what to do.

Until...

Phoebe and her friends decide to help out with the fundraiser. but soon Annabel is hanging out with Wild Club cutie Liam, and Phoebe feels weird about it. Sure, Liam is hot, but Phoebe only likes him as a friend, right?

Or,

Phoebe decides she can't abandon her friends, who are desperate for her to go to the party. Besides, Annabel and Kimmi are setting Phoebe up with Highgrove hottie Saia. But will the party be all the girls hope it will be?

In this pick-a-path story you get to make Phoebe's decisions, and choose where her story goes. Follow your heart right to the end, or go back and choose all over again.

Genres: Romance, Young Adult

236 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2014

About the author

Julie Fison is an Australian author. Her first novel for adults - One Punch - is a contemporary family drama that follows two mothers facing impossible decisions after one life-changing night. Julie has also written eleven books for children and young adults, a play for high school students - As the Crow Flies - short stories and travel features. Her work includes the Hazard River adventure series for young readers (as J.E. Fison) and books in the Choose Your Own Ever After series - How to Get to Rio and Call of the Wild. She lives in Brisbane, and when not at her desk, likes to travel and share tips for midlife adventure.

Reviews

[Madelyn Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book. I had some thoughts throughout the book, but they turned out to be changed when I finished the book.

1.) Annabel is a brat

Actually, Annabel was not a brat. There was just a misunderstanding when Liam bent the truth. It irritated me how she was all "buddy buddy" with Liam though because she just met him and is acting like they knew each other for a lifetime.

2.) Phoebe was easy to get "walked over."

This wasn't a major thought, but if Phoebe had an issue, she needed to bring it up with Annabel. However, that was resolved and it worked out okay.

Phoebe and Liam were pretty much meant for each other, especially because they had an odd love for Bunga the Orangutan. Luckily, they did get together, and it was sweet :)

This was a good, PG romance book with a happy ending and everything turns out well. All in all, good quick read that if you are in need of an appropriate romance novel, this will be a good book for you. Happy Reading!

-Madelyn

Thoughts in GIF form:

[Australian_book_worm · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a really good book I highly recommend it to you.

[Kinga · Rating 5 out of 5]

>!*
Lehet, hogy velem van a baj, de engem ez most nagyon betalált.
Teljesen egyszerű, mondhatni átlagos story, pár fiatalról, akiket elkezdenek érdekelni a fiúk, a bulik stb. Engem mégis annyira lekötött, és rendes megkedveltem a karaktereket.

A könyv kialakítása pedig annyira fun volt, főleg hogy egy thriller után vettem a kezembe, kellett egy kis vidámság már na. :D
Ebben a könyvben TE döntöd el, hogy mi történik. Én mindig is kedveltem az ilyen könyveket, annyira érdekessé teszik és különlegessé az olvasásélményt.

A történet röviden annyi, hogy van ez a három barátnő, Phoebs, Annabel és Kimmi, akiknek két program közül kell választaniuk. Vagy elmennek egy nagyon menő srác bulijára, ahova nagy nehezen meghívták őket, vagy a Vadállatokat támogató csoport moziestjére mennek. Így alakul a történet, többféleképpen is. Jópár dologról lehet dönteni, és van szerintem kb. 3-4 különböző végkifejlet is.

Engem nagyon lekötött, és tényleg egy kis vidámságot hozott, attól függetlenül is, hogy már nagyon régen olvastam utoljára, ifjúsági könyvet, amin tényleg érződik, hogy fiataloknak lett írva.
Szerintem ha nem jó időben talál meg a könyv és túl sokat vársz tőle utálni fogod, de ha egy ilyen gyorsan olvasós, semmi extra történetet keresel, szuper lehet!

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am used to "Choose Your Own Adventure" books being fantasy or adventure, not middle school romance, but the Usbourne Co has had other clean, interesting fun for kids, and so I was willing to give this one a try.

My middle-schooler has enjoyed these, and wanted me to read a couple. I must confess that I didn't go through and read all the choices like I might have if it had been a fantasy. What would have happened if I had chosen something else? Trying to navigate the way through middle school romances and crushes seemed to me like something from one of Dante's circles, so going through it once was enough.

Not where you could see it on the choosing page, but later on, when you flipped to the choice, my middle-schooler had marked "the best" choice, and oddly enough, I made all the same "best" choices. So, I guess in terms of this book, we still think alike, to some degree.

The middle-schooler did say that in one of these books' choices, she didn't like either choice. One was to lie to your new friends and the other was to lie to your old friends. No third choice. If you feel like you have to lie to your friends so they'll like you, then they're not really your friends. And if you're lying to them then you're not acting much like a friend, either. But maybe, for a lot of people, learning about true friendship comes beyond the middle-school years.

I found one set of choices that I didn't like, either. It was to either confront someone about something or ignore it. There was a third option that wasn't given. To talk gently and calmly about it, wanting clarification. Maybe the author figured that nuanced choice was beyond middle-schoolers, but it isn't really. Or maybe I'm just surrounded by articulate and gentle (most of the time) middle-schoolers.

Liam was a good, forgiving character. The little sister was a well-done character, too, as unintentionally annoying as sometimes little siblings can be in real life.

I liked that Phoebe immediately corrected her lie to Liam. (That wasn't given as an option.)

I disagreed that silence is a lie. Sometimes, "discretion is the better part of valor." Or, as my grandma used to say, "You don't need to tell everything that you know." That's not a good philosophy to take to extremes, though. If someone or something's in danger, it's time to talk.

It seemed to me that this book had less choosing than the classical "Choose Your Own Adventures" did.

The ending that I got didn't say how other people (namely the conniving jealous girl) would react to Phoebe's choices, or how they worked through the ramifications. It just left us hanging.

[alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

okay but other than TWO ENDINGS she always ended up with liam. like we see, even the author preferred liam. which is sad in a way because i genuinely did like saia but at the same time, it felt every forced. like their friends knew each other so they got to know each other and because of that, they started to like one another. and they aren’t very similar except for.. what was it? right, there stupid teachers and homework. they didn’t have much in common.

while liam and her had so much in common and multiple interests, even choosing the party had a way of ending up with liam. like the only reason i didn’t like liam’s plot line was because of the whole annabel issue.

my girl annabel was painted as such a horrible person when she genuinely was a good friend, yes she had some flaws but she just wanted liam and when the guy who like, likes you best friend? i see how it could suck for her.

in the end, i love phoebe, annabel and kimmi’s friendship. lowk team liam if it’s not for tearing friendships apart but saia was definitely a good time too!!

[Aliya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course i rated this book 5/5 I loved this book and recomend it to anyone who loves romance!
I got the privilege of reading this book, from my best friend.
thanks BFF!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Phoebe and her two best friends, Annabel and Kimmi are invited to a Luxury night party, and the host of this party is Marco. #Kimmi's boyfriend. But things don't go as smoothly as she expected when Kimmi finds Marco with another girl.. Or will that even happen?
This is a 'choose your own ever after' book after all!
I loved this book! it was Fantastic read! and I highly recommend you read it!

[Ajanta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Phoebe is one of those girls who is unaware of how she feels about certain people. Like her 'wild life' club friend Liam.
In spite the fact that Liam also liked her she encourage her friend Annabell to go after Liam. Because she was unaware of both of their feelings.Kimmi knows how Phoebe feels about Liam.
When Annabel really goes after Liam,
that is when the story takes turn, in most of the possibilities.
Saia was alright. But Liam was perfect.
I really liked the one where Phoebe goes to the movie night. And even the one where decide to go to the party but stays for the movie night.

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I personally didn't enjoy it. Lots of talk about cute boys, holding hands, simple kissing, and blue eyes. Personally, I wouldn't want my child to emulate this type of behavior. Intellectually, it's not an inappropriate book and I know quite a few young teenage girls who would giggle and swoon over the guys. The choose your own love story was a unique twist. And the three girls showed how important friends are over boys.

[Shannon Jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read my full review on the Shannon A. Jade Books blog!

My The Call of the Wild Top 3:
- Contemporary pick-a-path/choose-your-own-adventure story
- Quick, easy read
- Perfect for older primary school-aged readers

[Audrey keselo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must say that I loved that book very much...I love it how you can choose your own ever after. I really like the concept of this book. I couldn't put the book down.

I feel that this book is a 4 star rating.

[Zara Schwar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It's very cool cuz I've always loved choose your own adventure stories. The book is not difficult and is very interesting. Even my father loves this book! I will try taking every path to see what each one does, but the first path I took was a very happy ending!

[Annabelle Kocher · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was REALLY CONFUSING because one of the side characters had my name and personality, while Phoebe (“me”) was not really anything like me.

I know there was no way to avoid this, because the author has no idea who will read the book and everyone has to have a name, but, yeah.

[Sophia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven’t read this but how do you read a book

[Ally Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suggest this book to anyone who likes the Romance genre. It is a good solid book and a fun read.

[Mandy Chilcote · Rating 3 out of 5]

Middle grades girl book—cute for 4th grade or so. Friendship, truthfulness, and first crushes

[SavvyAbby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brb, poisoning my crush with dog biscuit brownies.

Yes, that actually happens in this book.

Better than the pie in Titus Andronicus I guess.

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

My daughter wanted us to try this book since she loves choose your adventures type books. So we buddy read it together. It was a good book but there was a lot girls trying to get boys type of topics. Past that it was okay.

[Belly G. M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a creative way of writing a book. As a reader I'm quite satisfied (with my choices) :D.

[Scarlett Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good hope they will publish more books like this

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A totally age appropriate and light hearted, fun book for my 12 year old!

[Abby Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a fun read. I love a good choose your own ending book. Tynslee and I just finished one ending. Going back to read them all!

[Marie Bruns · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it one of the first books I read when I am getting into reading

[Emberlynne Bertram · Rating 5 out of 5]

love it so so so much I read it in one siting. it was so cute, the last page is my FAV I will not stop talking about it. I am so sad I finish it so quick.....

[Vivian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that this book was really good. I think that it was better as a choose your own than a read by our own ending. I think that this book would be good for 6 graders. I think that they put a lot of effort into making a choose your own ending book.

[N.A. Cauldron · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a long time to decide to review this book, but when I saw that it only had one so far, I made the choice to do so.

This is a very silly book that will appeal to very silly girls. I'll be honest, I don't know many silly girls that read, so maybe this will help them get into it. For the record, I read every single page, made every choice. There are only three outcomes but several endings. This is not what I was expecting or used to with a choose your own adventure book. I was used to several different endings, not just variances of the same one plus two others. I was also used to 1 chapter before my first decision, not 5. I received this book as a prize for my child during a fundraiser.

Pros:
IF you like really silly boy crazy squealing and hugging, you will love this book.
The writing in and of itself is high quality.
The usages of phones and social media was well placed.

Cons:
If you do not like silly boy crazy squealing and hugging, you will want to vomit like me.
"Save the rain forests orangutan" (especially the "tear jerker" movie) was eye-rolling cliche.
A bit unrealistic from my personal experience as far as relationships between friends and boys and girls and that. I was not one of the popular people who did anything and everything together though, so that may be realistic in that sense.
Girls and boys being "busy" with each other. Maybe that doesn't mean what it does to other people, but I didn't like that in a young person's book. It was one giant soap opera of who's kissing whom.
And the clincher for me, it actually says, and I quote, "Shh," Annabel hissed. "You sound like a pair of hillbillies who've never been out of (ital) your sleepy l'il town."—Dear Ms Fison, I'm from Tennessee. You could not have said a more offensive word to me. It is for this reason that this book will not go to the library, but in the trash.

Final note: Please know that even though I found this offensive, I did not give it a one star review and have a hissy fit. I gave it three stars because all other things aside, I believe that's what it deserves. Surely based on my review, you can make that decision for yourself.

[Latte Hyacinth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 ig? Not the best quality read, but it is a quick one, which is why I chose it. This was probably the best out of the Choose Your Own Ever After books I’ve read though. I chose: Phoebe goes to the Wild Club movie night, Phoebe confronts Annabel, Phoebe stays with Liam (though I also read the Phoebe pretends nothing is wrong ending and the confronts Annabel>Phoebe goes back to the slushie stand ending). As always, I wish there were more opportunities for choices. I like Liam pretty well, but I wish there was a bit more interaction between him and Phoebe. Lulu is adorable, and Kimmi seems nice. I was never really sure how old the characters were? These always seem to end a little abruptly, though the going back to the slushie stand wasn’t too bad. In the staying with Liam ending I wish she had checked up on Annabel. Content: clean, one brief kiss in the Phoebe stays with Liam ending, not sure about the others but I haven’t read any of these that aren’t clean.

[Grace Montierth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is basically a high school love drama that is a "pick your own story" type of thing. It's really cheesy and it feels like a sixth or seventh grader would love this book, but not really something if you're hoping for more adventure and such. If you're looking for a typical high school love triangle drama, this is a book for you.

[Stacey Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book was just okay and would give it 2.5 stars. I really like the idea of a “choose your own adventure” book but this book didn’t have a whole lot of choosing as I remember in the classics. The story was very much geared towards middle school/junior high girls and all that they are typically concerned about - boys, clothes, more boys, etc.

[Raechel Lenore]

My sister had picked this up at the thriftstore, and I peeked at it, ending up reading it...
I'm generally not a fan of the choose-your-own-ending stories because, well, they make me nervous. More than one ending? Is that even right?! ;)
But I endured and picked what I would prefer to happen....it was interesting, and enjoyable. Not a deep book, but also not bad. It was lighthearted, easy to follow, and pretty clean. There was romance, but it was definitely appropriate for its age group. The cover is adorable!