These “Choose Your Own Adventure” Books for Race Car Fans Are Awesome
I was a voracious reader growing up and possessed an enthusiasm for role-playing. Unsurprisingly, one of my favorite book series in elementary school was Choose Your Own Adventure. I pored over the dozen entries in my school library about traveling through time, surviving dinosaur islands, and joining ancient civilizations, but it wasn’t until recently that I discovered multiple entries in the series specifically written for young gearheads.
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Three Choose Your Own Adventure Books That Involve Automotive Racing
From Stock Car Champion by R.A. Montgomery
Prolific author R.A. Montgomery, who contributed to countless Choose Your Own Adventure books, penned three entries specifically about car racing: The Race Forever (1983, #17), Behind the Wheel (1992, #121), and Stock Car Champion (1989, #96).
- The Race Forever presented an off-road race through the African bush that, if the correct choices were made, could loop infinitely back to the beginning. It offers 33 endings.
- Behind the Wheel involved racing vintage cars through Europe in Grand Prix events while performing heroic feats. It offers 11 endings.
- Stock Car Champion explores a tiff between a stock car driver and his mechanic, forcing you to choose sides and potentially race at Thunder Road. It offers 13 endings.
From Stock Car Champion by R.A. Montgomery
Although all three novels pertain to vehicle racing, each one takes a slightly different approach to the content and the choices they involve. For instance, Stock Car Champion — the entry I read most recently — heavily pertains to the business, inner workings, and risks of American stock car racing. Although target readers (ages 9-12) can’t drive and wouldn’t understand the technical aspects, the reader can still engage in the action because the adult situations are presented with applicable moral quandaries like asking for help, going to the police, and confronting conflict.
Each of the books contains an impressive amount of detail about cars, driving, and the industry, satiating one’s interest in the automotive with useful details about vehicle models, car parts, driving techniques, and general terminology, making the books partially educational for young readers. Even older readers may get some nostalgic enjoyment sitting down and entering a choice-based story that’s more suited to their interests as adults.
From Stock Car Champion by R.A. Montgomery
While most Choose Your Own Adventure books involve fantastical scenarios, these three automotive-themed titles are surprisingly grounded in realistic situations and questions. I’d recommend picking any (or all) of them up from a used bookstore.
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Aaron is unashamed to be a native Clevelander and the proud driver of a Hyundai Veloster Turbo (which recently replaced his 1995 Saturn SC-2). He gleefully utilizes his background in theater, literature, and communication to dramatically recite his own articles to nearby youth. Mr. Widmar happily resides in Dayton, Ohio with his magnificent wife, Vicki, but is often on the road with her exploring new destinations. Aaron has high aspirations for his writing career but often gets distracted pondering the profound nature of the human condition and forgets what he was writing… See more articles by Aaron.