Josiah > Recent Status Updates

Summers are busy for my family, but now that I've completed my latest Choose Your Own Adventure review, I hope to press the accelerator on this book and finish in the next few days.

Too horrible for kids to hear. Coraline got oofed. So sad.

Trunk, no elephant.

Early read, pre-Halloween. It's Coraline's fault!

Chasing Ghost!

Reading with Coraline (again, repetitively.)

I have noticed a British spelling or two. Most notably "storey."

Aha! I was right in my initial instinct not to conceal my true convictions regarding support for the Revolution. A Quaker will not appreciate duplicity.

One of the book's best endings. A measured, carefully considered debate with the Quaker woman, Amanda.

Wow! If I thought consumption by mosquitos was bad, being cannibalized by Mohawk Indians is substantially worse.

An ignominious end, killed by mosquitos. A cloud of the insects this thick could do a lot of damage, as I know from Gary Paulsen and Hatchet.

I don't believe George Washington ever does get assassinated in this book. I still have an ending or two left, though.

These illustrations, though different from his early Choose Your Own Adventure work, are nonetheless high quality. Too bad this was one of Paul Granger (Don Hedin's) last books for the series.

I guess these people actually were planning an assassination on General Washington. Good thing I stopped it.

I'm intrigued how well this ending cloaks the intentions of the "Avengers", preserving suspense for my trip down the alternate story path.

This isn't quite vintage Paul Granger styling, but as illustrations go it's way more moody and eerie than I expected from an American Revolution spy thriller.

Back to the book's first decision. I'll start out right now instead of investing the time in a decent night's sleep before I begin my career in espionage on behalf of the fledgling United States.

This is my Gary Paulsen book for July 2026. I have read a new Gary Paulsen book every month without exception from November 2015 to now.

Cover art by Barry Jones, a fairly intense closeup portrayal of the sheep under John's Barron's care. The Fourteenth Summer is actually the UK rendering of Gary Paulsen's classic Western The Haymeadow, and I'm curious what if any the noticeable differences will be.

I'm playing it safe and not risking our ship and lives, but for the record, I don't like that McGillicuddy left such a decision to us. He's the one with lots of experience on New York's seaways!

Will we have better or equal luck if we set out by sea instead of hoping to avoid Redcoats by land?

In this ending we never learn that the letter to General Washington was coded, and hence we sacrificed ourselves for no reason. I wonder if we're released from lockup after the U.S. wins the Revolutionary War.

A charming ending, and more than redemption for Mr. Hogglebottom. He's an unusually memorable character for Choose Your Own Adventure, and a stalwart American.