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Choose Your Own Adventure: Young Readers #8
Indian Trail
Have you ever read a book that's about you? This book is! You live with your tribe in a pueblo village. There has been no rain for a long time, and the crops are dying. If rain does not come soon, there will be no food to eat next winter. You have heard stories about spirits called kachinas that help people. Kachinas are so powerful they might even be able to change the weather. You must go find the kachinas, and save your village. Should you go alone, or bring friends to help you? The journey will be hard, and you must be brave. Do you bring your grandfather with you? Will you stop to help a wounded bear? Should you ask the Wise One what is in the bundle he carries? YOU choose what happens next! Good luck...
- GenresChildrens
50 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
1 person is currently reading
42 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.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 28, 2024
R.A. Montgomery's cultural storytelling acumen varied widely from book to book, but Indian Trail isn't one of his better efforts. Severe drought has hit your Indian village. In the past when faced with this crisis, your people beseeched spirits known as kachinas to send rain and preserve their lives. You have decided to take it on yourself to seek the kachinas in the mountains and convince them to end the drought. On the morning you and your friend Running Foot prepare to leave, you are visited by your grandfather, Wise One. Will you take him along on the hazardous journey, or is it a job for the young?
Letting Wise One accompany you results in a single decision, with a quick ending either way you go. The majority of this book happens if you head out alone with Running Foot. You meet a wolf jealously guarding a fallen deer, but should you leave the carnivore to its kill or drive it away? If you injure the wolf with your spear you will need to decide whether to pursue it in hopes of rectifying the harm you caused. When you come to a narrow ridge with rocks that seem likely to slide out from under your feet, you may decide it isn't worth the risk. Turning back, you spot a trio of Apaches planning a strike on your village. Should you sneak home and alert everyone, or follow the Apaches to discover the details? Either choice puts you in position to save your tribe and perhaps earn the kachinas' blessing.
Instead of turning back from the narrow ridge, maybe you decide to cross it. The maneuver has harrowing moments, but you reach the other side and Running Foot zooms onward. You just wish you weren't suddenly feeling so ill. Taking a breather might be a smart move, especially when a kachina appears with a wish to heal both your infirmity and the parched land. If you shake off the ill feeling and force yourself after Running Foot, you'll come upon a bear with an arrow jutting from its side. Will you risk your life to extract the arrow, or stay focused on the kachinas? The two priorities are linked more closely than you realize.
Indian Trail feels sparser than most Bantam Skylark Choose Your Own Adventures, and isn't all that interesting or cohesive. The supposed rareness of kachinas is undermined by the fact that you run into them at almost every turn; the story would be better served by the approach Edward Packard's Jungle Safari took with the Kawamba ape, where only a single ending allows fleeting interaction with the animal you were questing after. In some endings the kachinas are petty and arbitrary; who could blame a kid for not pulling an arrow out of a wounded bear? Surely that choice doesn't render you unworthy of help to end the life-threatening drought. Leslie Morrill's illustrations are nice and the Apache storyline isn't bad, so I might rate Indian Trail one and a half stars, but it's among the less impressive titles in the series.
Letting Wise One accompany you results in a single decision, with a quick ending either way you go. The majority of this book happens if you head out alone with Running Foot. You meet a wolf jealously guarding a fallen deer, but should you leave the carnivore to its kill or drive it away? If you injure the wolf with your spear you will need to decide whether to pursue it in hopes of rectifying the harm you caused. When you come to a narrow ridge with rocks that seem likely to slide out from under your feet, you may decide it isn't worth the risk. Turning back, you spot a trio of Apaches planning a strike on your village. Should you sneak home and alert everyone, or follow the Apaches to discover the details? Either choice puts you in position to save your tribe and perhaps earn the kachinas' blessing.
Instead of turning back from the narrow ridge, maybe you decide to cross it. The maneuver has harrowing moments, but you reach the other side and Running Foot zooms onward. You just wish you weren't suddenly feeling so ill. Taking a breather might be a smart move, especially when a kachina appears with a wish to heal both your infirmity and the parched land. If you shake off the ill feeling and force yourself after Running Foot, you'll come upon a bear with an arrow jutting from its side. Will you risk your life to extract the arrow, or stay focused on the kachinas? The two priorities are linked more closely than you realize.
Indian Trail feels sparser than most Bantam Skylark Choose Your Own Adventures, and isn't all that interesting or cohesive. The supposed rareness of kachinas is undermined by the fact that you run into them at almost every turn; the story would be better served by the approach Edward Packard's Jungle Safari took with the Kawamba ape, where only a single ending allows fleeting interaction with the animal you were questing after. In some endings the kachinas are petty and arbitrary; who could blame a kid for not pulling an arrow out of a wounded bear? Surely that choice doesn't render you unworthy of help to end the life-threatening drought. Leslie Morrill's illustrations are nice and the Apache storyline isn't bad, so I might rate Indian Trail one and a half stars, but it's among the less impressive titles in the series.
February 4, 2022
Wish I had tried these as a kid 😉
April 14, 2015
Dentro de la linea "globo azul" estaban los librojuego dirigidos a los niños más pequeños. Normalmente son extremadamente simples, con pocas páginas y muchas ilustraciones.
Este en concreto es uno bastante decente. Las opciones son bastante coherentes, se habla de tribus indias con un aire ligeramente místico y las ilustraciones son estupendas. Varios finales son abruptos y poco satisfactorios, eso si.
Los más pequeños lo disfrutarán sin problemas. Está por encima de la media en su linea editorial.
Este en concreto es uno bastante decente. Las opciones son bastante coherentes, se habla de tribus indias con un aire ligeramente místico y las ilustraciones son estupendas. Varios finales son abruptos y poco satisfactorios, eso si.
Los más pequeños lo disfrutarán sin problemas. Está por encima de la media en su linea editorial.
March 31, 2016
Did you ever think to yourself "I like R.A. Montgomery's Choose Your Own Adventure books, but they just don't dumb things down or treat non-white people as magical enough for my tastes!"?
Boy, I didn't.
Boy, I didn't.
May 19, 2024
Nota: Ésta reseña pretende analizar las serie de aventuras contenida en el presente volumen mediante dos visiones: la del más pequeño y la del adulto, para así poder servir de ayuda en una futura recomendación de lectura y compra. Por lo cual, puede contener ciertos Spoilers
Tu poblado se está muriendo de hambre, hace demasiado que hay sequía y no tenéis frutos ni de qué abasteceros. Pese a ser uno de los más jóvenes, decides que es hora de partir por el intrincado y peligroso sendero de los dioses indios katchines, en búsqueda de su magia, para que os otorgue lluvias.
La presente entrega bien se podría resumir en: “Perdido en el amazonas” versión infantil. Aquí Montgomery trata su desarrollo con la misma formalidad que en la serie más juvenil de las aventuras de libre elección, pero acortando según qué aspectos sombríos y metafóricos (magia, alucinógenos naturales, rituales, simbologías, etc). Se centra en dos desenlaces (encontrar a la tribu sagrada, y que nos conceda la lluvia, o encontrarlos, y que nos libre de un asalto por parte de otra tribu enemiga). Lo que más me ha gustado es el trasfondo de cómo resolver satisfactoriamente la aventura, y es mediante el corazón y no la vista; muy didáctico para los más pequeños. Y es que casi nunca es todo lo que parece. Quizá el más peque encontrará a faltar algo más de peligrosidad y misterio (como en “El abominable hombre de las nieves”, del mismo autor o la citada anteriormente) pero recordemos que el propósito es lograr el manjar de la tierra para los tuyos, no ir batallando ni de acampada; una vez más hay mucha rigurosidad para tratarse de una aventura dirigida a los primeros lectores. Pero todas ellas comparten ese halo filosófico que dotaba el autor a este tipo de tramas. Por lo tanto, es un buen libro para introducir a los infantes en una lectura más sobria, y degustar a Montgomery por primera vez, siguiendo con su línea juvenil.
Las ilustraciones de Leslie Morrill, muy marca de la casa, aportan mayor envergadura y realismo a la narración. Autor que ha acompañado a Montgomerry y Packard en esta tipología de historias.
Tu poblado se está muriendo de hambre, hace demasiado que hay sequía y no tenéis frutos ni de qué abasteceros. Pese a ser uno de los más jóvenes, decides que es hora de partir por el intrincado y peligroso sendero de los dioses indios katchines, en búsqueda de su magia, para que os otorgue lluvias.
La presente entrega bien se podría resumir en: “Perdido en el amazonas” versión infantil. Aquí Montgomery trata su desarrollo con la misma formalidad que en la serie más juvenil de las aventuras de libre elección, pero acortando según qué aspectos sombríos y metafóricos (magia, alucinógenos naturales, rituales, simbologías, etc). Se centra en dos desenlaces (encontrar a la tribu sagrada, y que nos conceda la lluvia, o encontrarlos, y que nos libre de un asalto por parte de otra tribu enemiga). Lo que más me ha gustado es el trasfondo de cómo resolver satisfactoriamente la aventura, y es mediante el corazón y no la vista; muy didáctico para los más pequeños. Y es que casi nunca es todo lo que parece. Quizá el más peque encontrará a faltar algo más de peligrosidad y misterio (como en “El abominable hombre de las nieves”, del mismo autor o la citada anteriormente) pero recordemos que el propósito es lograr el manjar de la tierra para los tuyos, no ir batallando ni de acampada; una vez más hay mucha rigurosidad para tratarse de una aventura dirigida a los primeros lectores. Pero todas ellas comparten ese halo filosófico que dotaba el autor a este tipo de tramas. Por lo tanto, es un buen libro para introducir a los infantes en una lectura más sobria, y degustar a Montgomery por primera vez, siguiendo con su línea juvenil.
Las ilustraciones de Leslie Morrill, muy marca de la casa, aportan mayor envergadura y realismo a la narración. Autor que ha acompañado a Montgomerry y Packard en esta tipología de historias.
January 12, 2022
"Choose Your Own Adventure" books are great to help children want to read. The stories are short, and the child can decide which direction to follow. Books range from a few different endings to several, depending on the book. This particular book numbered nine possible endings.
There are a number of book titles to choose from, which gives the reader access to many adventures. Available books start with beginning readers through young readers.
Visit your local indie bookstore to discover which ending you will follow.
There are a number of book titles to choose from, which gives the reader access to many adventures. Available books start with beginning readers through young readers.
Visit your local indie bookstore to discover which ending you will follow.
February 12, 2023
Relies on stereotypes of the indigenous culture of the southwest to drive plot and characterization. Additionally there are only positive endings which removes half the fun of a CYOA - dying in horribly improbably ways.
July 5, 2018
Review by P.H. : "I dislike it because it's shorter than usual."
March 8, 2021
La historia general de este en concreto no me convence. No esperaba una gran literatura, pero se queda floja, al igual que los finales. Ni fu ni fa, la verdad.
August 20, 2025
3.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews