I was at my local public library where my mom had diligently taken me on a lazy summer afternoon. They had their annual summer reading program where one could get a reading card stamped for reading a book. Once again I wanted to read "The Billy Goats Gruff" and I can recollect face of frustration on the librarian in charge of the program seeing me again with the same book in hand. I remember getting my chance to get the card stamped and to take back home the English translation of P.C. Asbjørnsen and J.E. Moe's rendition of the classic tale. Little did I know that the troll would be waiting for me under the bridge a few years later.

Although I now know that children's librarians are very busy people, and much of that work is to build programs designed to improve children's reading fluency. Rereading the same book is a highly regarded method for improving one's reading fluency. Just make sure the reader likes the story, or has another internally motivated reason to read the story again. With no "Flashbulb memory" event to tether these events to, the exact timing of them can be quibbled with. As Gladwell stated "There is our memory. And there is the truth. They are not the same" (Gladwell, Free Brian Williams). But the truth I am getting at is finding books one wants to read multiple times is very helpful to achieving reading fluency. As with finding a series of books which is engaging enough to read multiple titles in the same series.

Let's get to that series. Jumping a few years forward in my memory brings me to another book which has impacted my reading. And had Trolls in it as well, although you had to deviate from the "One True Path" through the book to find it. After reading the library's collection of "Choose Your Own Adventure" books in the rotating bookshelf of paperbacks in the children's section for the next few years, I was ready for something a little different. I found this aside the Narnia books on display: "The Warlock of Firetop Mountain" by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone (1982).

This was a great find for the budding fluent, comprehending reader. Over the course of the next few years, Steve Jackson's House of Hades (né House of Hell, 1984) became my favorite book of the series. Not normally a fan of the horror genre, I read the book and tried to solve the mystery and foil the evil cult's plans. I even tried to get my uncle to play the game with me on one of my rare trips down to Southern California to see him. "Do you want to play this with me?" He took one look at the cover and said "Not particularly." His words were polite, but his facial expressions said it all. Perhaps showing him a copy with Ian Miller's cover art instead of the Dell version would have made him more favorable? Who can say.

Many of those Fighting Fantasy authors, artists, and fans agree as documented by Jonathan Green in the 3rd edition of "You are the Hero - 40th Anniversary Edition" published this year (pp. 314-316). The books came out when both tabletop role-playing games and video games were in their infancy. They take a more complicated art form and consolidate it into a more digestible and teachable form. The sections were a few paragraphs or less, facilitating forward progression through the stories. The rules were kept as simple as possible to aid a ludic experience, but not be impenetrable.

Those fans insights continue. The fantasy settings were imaginative. They kept the best qualities of books with stories told primarily through the written word so that the reader could imagine the setting and events of the story in their own way. The 2nd person nature of the storytelling was 'empowering' and helped build 'self-esteem' among those young readers who encountered it. (Green, pp. 316) Especially for those readers whose first experience with interactive media and fantasy role-playing came from the Fighting Fantasy series.

"Continue the Hero Journey."

This is a call to action by those heroes who had positive reading experiences with the Fighting Fantasy gamebook series as young readers. I'd like to collect your stories and consolidate your experiences for the following several reasons.

First of all, this is a time-capsule. This project seeks to document the experiences of those youth whose literacy development was positively affected by engaging with early interactive fiction infused with tabletop role-playing game mechanics.

Additionally, this is a love letter from those of us who came of age playing Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. I hope to show the value of engaging with gamebooks as developing readers. Future developing readers should be the beneficiaries of our experiences.

By embarking on this project, I hope to inform educational researchers of literacy development and pedagogy of the value developing readers can gain through engaging with gamebooks.

Finally, I hope to assist authors of literature aimed at assisting developing readers becoming more fluent in reading.

If you wish to help by telling your story of how you discovered gamebooks, please get in contact with me through one of my socials, or the form below. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.