Casey Berger Chooses Her Own Adventure

Remember Choose Your Own Adventure books? The interactive children’s books, in which the reader assumes the role of the protagonist and determines the outcome of the story, were ubiquitous during the 1980s and ’90s. Chooseco, a Vermont-based publishing company, revived the series in the 2010s, reissuing classic titles and adding new ones. A recent addition is Sister From the Multiverse, by C. E. Berger—the pen name of Casey Berger, an assistant professor of physics and statistical and data sciences at Smith. If it’s been a while since you’ve experienced the participatory magic of engaging with a Choose Your Own Adventure, we invite you to follow the prompts on these pages and see if you can successfully figure out how Berger’s book came to be.

You’re Casey Berger, an assistant professor of physics and statistical and data sciences at Smith, and you’ve just arrived at your office in McConnell Hall. Throwing down your bags, you notice your laptop is open, which is curious. Didn’t you close it when you left for the day yesterday?

Sit down at your computer (go to page 3).

Grab coffee first (go to page 2).

Whatever you need to read can wait for the moment. You turn to the coffee machine on your sideboard, intending to make yourself an espresso, when a student bursts through the door and collapses into a chair. “Professor Berger,” she says in tears, “I just don’t understand the assignment. I think I’m going to fail!”

Oh, no! For a professor like you, the sense that you’re not delivering content well can feel like the end of the world—or maybe the universe? Happily, this student is simply stuck on an aspect of data science that you know extremely well. As you walk her through the concept, you see her brighten as she suddenly understands.

It’s a satisfying experience, but it takes time. When the student leaves, you realize you’ve missed the daily hourlong window you usually put aside for writing. You only have 20 minutes left before class begins. Is it too late to crank out a page or two of fiction before you move on to a full day of teaching?

Even if it’s only for a few minutes, do a bit of writing today (go to page 8).

You’ve got other things to do; the writing can wait until tomorrow (go to page 4).

When you scan your computer screen, there’s a message waiting for you—and it’s from an editor! She says she noticed you when you spoke at the recent Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference and was interested in your work.

“I’m from the publishing company Chooseco,” she writes. “We’re looking for authors, especially those with a background in science, to pitch ideas for a Choose Your Own Adventure book. Are you interested?”

“What an appealing prospect,” you think. You can use the fertile ground of metaphors and speculative fiction to explore what it means to be an adult. You love thought experiments, and this could take you in some really interesting directions. What theme should you choose for your pitch?

A story about a parallel universe (go to page 5).

A story about rogue AIs (go to page 6).

It’s morning, and you’ve just woken up after a night of strange dreams. College professor? Published author? You laugh at yourself and shake your head. Those were career paths you left behind long ago when you were still a doctoral student. Thank goodness you figured out how to double down on physics research or who knows what would have happened to you!

The reality is you’re now too busy dividing your time between a quantum computing startup and a science policy think tank to do anything else. For you, data science has always been about answering broader social questions—using data to figure out how to improve as a society. Sometimes you think back and wonder what might have been. But now it’s time to get to work. You’ll leave the speculative fiction writing to professional authors.

The end.

(Start over?)

You decide the book should be a Choose Your Own Adventure with a multiverse theme. When you pitch the idea, the Chooseco editors are intrigued and accept your proposal. You start crafting a new tale, one in which siblings meet across time and space and where the reader has the power to decide what comes next.

The difficulty in creating a book like this is organizing the structure and tracking the story arcs. Each piece has to be properly mapped so that all 31 narratives make sense. You start crafting the pathways using a charting system you’ve developed yourself, weaving the storylines together to create dead ends here, crossed paths there, and many (so many!) endings.

The book will be for middle schoolers, so you want to ensure you’re striking the right tone. Faced with the problem of how to end many of the stories, you decide to take a specific approach.

Write a lot of happy endings (go to page 7). 

Give yourself another day to think it over (go to page 4).

You decide to move ahead with a story about artificial intelligence. The Chooseco editors pass on the idea, which is a shame, but the book quickly evolves into a work geared more toward adults.

Soon your AI becomes a ghost, and the book evolves into a gothic novel. Shopping the book around to agents and editors, you realize that the recent rise of generative AI means their inboxes are full of similar ideas. It’s difficult to get anyone to respond to your draft, but then again, publishing is a difficult business. While planning the syllabus for your next class, you start dreaming up a plot for a totally new audience. Maybe speculative fiction this time, or something completely different from what you’ve done before?

Aim for a younger audience (go to page 5).

Aim for an older audience (go to page 8).

You send the first draft to your Chooseco editor, and she has a major critique: Too many of the endings end happily. Choose Your Own Adventure books need more frustrating endings, she says, because then kids will be motivated to return to the start and try again.

You’re also realizing that the story arcs can’t all be bleak. Some endings have to be devastating, of course, but others can be more neutral. How can you solve this problem? “Think more like a 12-year-old,” your editor says.

“She’s right,” you think. “At that age, there are consequences that can feel worse than the universe collapsing.”

Out loud, you say, “What about getting stuck in detention?” “Perfect!” your editor replies. “How about being locked in a closet while a clone takes over your life?” “Yes!”

The brainstorming session leads to one of your favorite endings: a bittersweet moment in which the main character and her sister escape to a parallel universe but are forced to leave their parents behind. You love how the character ends up with her sibling in a new and different place but is forced to abandon the other, equally important relationships she held so dear before.

Go to page 9.

Whether it’s one new page or a completely new project, there’s always time to fit in some writing.

You’re currently writing an adult fiction trilogy. The story that consumes you, the one that has captured your attention and won’t let go until it’s told, is a space opera called The Resonance Saga. It follows the adventures of Jaya Mill, a Union Starfleet lieutenant commander aboard the UNS Avalon.

As a debut author, you’ve been invited to speak on a panel at an upcoming conference. This is a perfect opportunity to network with others in the publishing industry. Who knows what kind of connections you might make?

Go to page 3.

 It’s October 2023 and your debut Choose Your Own Adventure book, Sister From the Multiverse, has finally been published, under the name C. E. Berger. The book follows the main character as she is suddenly confronted by some
one claiming to be her long-lost sister...from a parallel universe! Can she figure out how to unite her broken family and
stop an evil scientist from taking over the multiverse.

On a break from your job as a professor at Smith, you walk into the A2Z Science & Learning Store in downtown Northampton and see the book on the shelves. As a young reader reaches for a copy, you begin to smile.

The end.

(Start over?)