GEORGE IVANOFF’s You Choose Mega: Prehistoric Peril is the latest book in his interactive ‘You Choose’ series. Read on for a Q&A with the author.
What sparked the idea for You Choose Mega?
The idea of You Choose MEGA was sparked by the desire to have a longer ‘You Choose’ book. One that had more pathways, more choices and more endings, but also one in which I could write longer sections with more description and character detail. The original series has quite a wide readership, and the older readers had been asking me for a longer and more complex version for quite some time.
As for the Prehistoric Peril storyline … that was sparked by my childhood love of dinosaurs (which continues on into adulthood). I had included dinosaurs (along with other creatures) in my previous book, Monster Island, and I had so much fun with them that I decided I needed more dinosaurs!
Can you tell us an interesting fact your learned about dinosaurs while working on this book?
I learned the difference between a Tyrannosaurus rex and a Giganotosaurus. They are similar in that they are both large apex predators with the same basic shape, including the funny little arms. BUT, the Giganotosaurus had sharper teeth than T-rex, was a bit longer from head to tail and was about 30 million years older. I had the chance to use this information on the first page of the story. I love that this book is completely over-the-top action/adventure, but is still full of dino facts.
Do you have a favourite dinosaur? And did it make it into the story?
My favourite dinosaur is the Leaellynasaura, a small Australian, two-legged, plant-eating ornithopod found in Victoria. I just think they’re rather cute. Since I used one as my main dino character in Monster Island, I didn’t feel like I could make it one of the main ones in Prehistoric Peril. But one does make a brief appearance before being attacked by genetically manipulated piranha creatures.
What’s the most fun or most challenging part of writing a book with multiple storylines and endings?
The most fun thing is coming up with the dead ends, where the reader is chucked out of the story if they’re not careful with their choices.
The most challenging thing is keeping track of the storylines and making sure that they all make sense. It’s really easy to come up with a cool idea and put it into one storyline, only to then discover that it stuffs up one or more of the intersecting storylines. I keep track of it all on a whiteboard, planning things out with cards and arrows; always double-checking every path. Because this book is longer than the previous ones, I had to use both sides of my whiteboard, with arrows leading from one side to the another and back again. [see attached photo]
How do ‘You Choose’ books help engage reluctant readers?
There are a few things that help engage reluctant readers. The books are written in second person, placing the reader into the story. There’s an immediacy to that. Add in the fast pace and relentless action, which is thrown at you from page one, and it all acts as a hook to draw the reader in.
While the Prehistoric Peril book is a bit over 28 000 words, the individual storylines are much shorter, which means that a reluctant reader is able to finish a story fairly quickly, gaining a sense of achievement. That leads to increasing confidence as a reader and wanting to read more … which they can do straight away by diving back into the same book and, with different choices, going into another storyline.
Then there is the element of choice itself. It gives the reader a sense of agency, a feeling that they are in control (not unlike playing a video game) – something that they don’t get from a standard narrative.
Describe this book in three words.
Awesome dinosaur adventures!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
George Ivanoff is a Melbourne author who’s written more than 100 books for kids and teens, including the middle-grade novel Monster Island, the interactive You Choose series, the non-fiction Survival Guides, the RFDS Adventures and the Other Worlds series.
As a child, George loved reading interactive books, where he got to make decisions about the direction of the story. He has had more fun plotting and writing the ‘You Choose’ books than pretty much anything else. Writing the ‘Survival Guides’ has indulged his curiosity, interest in research and desire to learn new things. And writing the ‘RFDS Adventures’ has opened his eyes to the amazing work done by the Royal Flying Doctor Service. With Monster Island, George got to indulge his childhood fascination for dinosaurs in a rollicking science fiction adventure full of monsters, mushrooms and mysteries.
George’s books and stories have been shortlisted for numerous awards and he’s won two YABBA Awards for his You Choose books.
George drinks too much coffee, eats too much chocolate and watches too much Doctor Who. He has one wife, two children and an uncontrollable imagination.
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