Meanwhile
Meanwhile: Pick Any Path. 3,856 Story Possibilities. (Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens)
Meanwhile
Jason Shiga
Chocolate or Vanilla? This simple choice is all it takes to get started with Meanwhile, the wildly inventive creation of comics mastermind Jason Shiga, of whom Scott McCloud said “Crazy + Genius = Shiga.” Jimmy, whose every move is under your control, finds himself in a mad scientist’s lab, where he’s given a choice between three amazing objects: a mind-reading device, a time-travel machine, or the Killitron 3000 (which is as ominous as it sounds). Down each of these paths there are puzzles, mysterious clues, and shocking revelations. It’s up to the reader to lead Jimmy to success or disaster.Meanwhile is a wholly original story of invention, discovery, and saving the world, told through a system of tabs that take you forward, backward, upside down, and right side up again. Each read creates a new adventure! Awards and praise for Jason Shiga 2004 Eisner Award2003 Ignatz Award2007 Stumpton Trophy Award1999 Xeric Grant Recipient “Crazy + Genius = Shiga” ―Scott McCloud, author of Understanding Comics “If humankind ever finds itself at the brink of its own destruction and I am given the task to fill a small, space-bound time capsule with a collection of ten graphic novels that would present to alien eyes the best that the cartoonists of Earth had to offer the universe, Jason Shiga's Meanwhile would surely be among my picks.” ―Gene Luen Yang, author of American Born Chinese “A creator of comix that can be at once funny, disturbing, thoughtful, deconstructed, and cleverly put together.” ―Time online “Meanwhile is a wallop of a book/graphic novel! It delivers action, choices, problem solving, and engagement. And it reminds me of my own efforts in writing Choose Your Own Adventure, which I take as a great compliment coming from Jason Shiga. I wish I had written this book! Run, don’t walk, to your favorite bookseller and pick up a copy!” ―R. A. Montgomery, Choose Your Own Adventure author “Ingenious” ―Edward Packard, Choose Your Own Adventure author

Book Details

Genre: 

  • Adventure
  • Fiction
  • Juvenile Fiction

Age Level: 

  • 12 and up
Profile Picture

"Meanwhile" by Jason Shiga is one doozy of a graphic novel. The main character is a boy whose journey starts out with ordering ice cream. Readers make decisions that lead to different pages with different scenarios, the first of which is as simple as chocolate versus vanilla. The boy then goes on to meet a mad scientist with many inventions. The story diverges yet again when the reader decides which device the boy will tinker with. More diversity comes when new characters emerge--some of which are directly correlated with a doomsday of sorts.

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