Can You Survive in the Special Forces?

December 15, 2012
Grades 4-6 Similar in concept to the publisher's original You Choose series, books in the You Choose: Survival series present narratives that include a variety of risky scenarios and let the reader choose which path to take at critical junctures. While the original series transported readers to eras in the past, the current books offer present-day risks and rewards. Short sentences make the books accessible to many readers. Appearing on nearly half of the double-page spreads, small stock photos add an element of realism to the fictionalized accounts. Each book addresses readers directly, offering three unrelated stories with different characters, settings, and circumstances. In Can You Survive Special Forces?, readers take leadership roles in three missions: rescuing hostages with the Green Berets, capturing an enemy airstrip with the Army Rangers, and capturing a terrorist leader with the Navy SEALs. Although the series has a strong element of fiction, it does offer some information as well as vicarious practice in making decisions and accepting the (sometimes fatal) consequences.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)