R. A. Montgomery

Raymond Almiran Montgomery [ [http://www.rif.org/readingplanet/bookzone/content/montgomery.mspx Reading Is Fundamental | Reading Planet | Book Zone | Meet the Authors and Illustrators ] ] (born 1936) is an American author and progenitor of the Choose Your Own Adventure interactive children's book series. Born in Connecticut, Montgomery graduated from Williams College and attended graduate school at Yale University and New York University (NYU). He has devoted his life to teaching and education.

One of the most vibrant aspects of Montgomery’s educational career has been his devotion to the "Choose" series created in the late 1970s. Working with friends on an initial run of four books ("The Cave of Time", "Journey Under the Sea", "By Balloon to the Sahara", and "Space and Beyond"), Montgomery penned more than 50 books for this series and its various offspring, including a series for younger readers and a series entitled "Choose Your Own Nightmare".

The "Choose Your Own Adventure" series published 184 titles through Bantam Books between 1979 and 1998, including many by Raymond himself and several by his son Ramsey. It was one of the most popular children’s series of all time, with over 250 million books in print.fact|date=March 2008 Since its original publication, the series has been popular with both reluctant and advanced readers. It has also been used in classrooms from elementary school to college.fact|date=March 2008 At the advent of the Internet age, the series was used frequently in curricula focused on explaining the interactivity of the world wide web to young children.

Montgomery and partner Shannon Gilligan have turned their full attentions to "Choose Your Own Adventure" once more. The series is being reissued through Chooseco LLC, in Waitsfield, Vermont. The re-release has been featured in the "LA Times" and "Newsweek" magazine, and an electronic version of the first book in the relaunch, "The Abominable Snowman", is available as an interactive download for iPod. Montgomery is in the process of updating 36 popular CYOA titles and looks forward to seeing children reading them again. He is currently rewriting a 450 page draft of a novel about modern day China.fact|date=March 2008

CYOA books by R. A. Montgomery

Re-released CYOA books

* Choose Your Own Adventure Writer's Handbook
* 1. "The Abominable Snowman"
* 2. "Journey Under the Sea"
* 3. "Space and Beyond"
* 4." The Lost Jewels of Nabooti"
* 5. "Mystery of the Maya"
* 6. "House of Danger"
* 7. "The Race Forever"
* 8. "Escape"
* 9. "Lost on the Amazon"
* 10. "Prisoner of the Ant People"
* 11. "Trouble on Planet Earth"
* 12. "War with the Evil Power Master"
* 13. "The Mystery of Ura Senke" by Shannon Gilligan
* 14. "The Case of the Silk King" by Shannon Gilligan
* 15. "Beyond Escape!"
* 16. "The Secret of the Ninja" by Jay Leibold
* 17. "The Brilliant Dr. Wogan"
* 18. "Return to Atlantis"

Other projects

* A six book non-interactive series for YA readers entitled "Trio"
* A CD-ROM, "Beyond the Wall of Stars"

References

External links

* [http://www.cyoa.com The Choose Your Own Adventure Website]