Going for a gold
Star Rider. By Carole Carreck. Adventure Gamebooks (Puffin). 350 pp. $5.95. This is an imaginative variation on the popular, heroic-fantasy format of “The Choose Your Own Adventure” story.' Not so much “story” as a clever publishing gimmick designed to get reluctant young readers actively involved with the printed page, these simplified narratives are worked out on a flo-chart principle. Adventurous possibilities are organised partly on the basis of luck, partly on the reader’s personality. Choose wrongly and your adventure can end abruptly and ignominiously. Proceed prudently and the prize is yours. This reviewer tried “Star Rider” on her two pony-loving daughters as well as testing her own ability to win a handsome husband and an Olympic gold medal. One daughter, tempted too often by glamorous social opportunities, failed to pass the vet’s fitness test. The other steadfastly devoted to the well-being of her horse won the nice (but dull) Richard and an Olympic gold medal. The reviewer, whose practical knowledge of horses is entirely secondhand, diced dangerously for the affections of the saturnine Andre, studowner and heart-throb, to win the crosscountry, the prospect of an Olympic medal, and Andre. Admittedly there were a few heart-stopping moments along the way, with arch-rival Caroline threatening to throw a spanner in the works. “Star Rider” in spite of its sci-fi title will guarantee the attention of 12 to 14-year-old girls whether they like horses or not. — Diane Prout.
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Press, 5 October 1985, Page 20
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239Going for a gold Press, 5 October 1985, Page 20
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