IF/THEN Books is the playful corner of what I make: real novels for young readers with the choices built in. The idea arrived in an in-between season of my life, some ten years ago, a shelf of books I could see clearly but couldn't yet build. Now they're real. If you're new, start with The Escape Artist or Point Zenith. — Chad Prevost
Every IF/THEN book is a real novel with branching paths built in: you make the choices, and the story remembers. Lead title The Escape Artist — thirty endings, forty-two decisions, original illustrations by Annabelle Tarter — arrives August 18.
Every IF/THEN book is a real novel with branching paths built in. Read forward, make a choice, the story remembers. Some endings are wins. Some are honest losses. The best ones you have to earn across more than one read.
An IF/THEN book is structured like a map, not a hallway. Every chapter ends with a real choice, not a fake one. The choices change the story in ways that compound: who your hero trusts in chapter three changes who'll talk to them in chapter nine.
Each book has multiple full endings. Some are wins. Some are honest losses. Some unlock achievements that carry into the next book in the series.
Reading time is roughly 4–6 hours per path. Most readers play through twice or three times to see how the case could have gone differently.
The UBU Adventures lead. Two more lines sit alongside them — different ages, different genres, the same branching form.
Interactive fiction for older readers. Crosses genres freely: sci-fi, horror, western, literary. The format is the same; the stakes are higher, the characters more complex, the moral terrain less certain. Ages 14–17.
Meet The Escape Artist →Public-domain classics rebuilt as interactive fiction. The source material you know; the branching paths you don't. Ages 10–13.
An interactive mystery adventure series for young readers ages 9–13. A young detective, real cases, hundreds of ways through each book. Genre-grounded, character-driven, achievement-tracked.
Browse the series →Every IF/THEN book includes an achievement system: case files you can collect, ranks you can earn, secret endings you can unlock by playing differently. Carry them forward in the series.
One badge per case Iris closes. Hemlock Island. The Mansion. The Mayan UFO. Trade them at the back of the book.
Hidden clues across each book. Some are obvious. Most aren't. Collect all of them and the final chapter reads differently.
Junior, Senior, Lead. Your rank carries from book to book. Higher ranks unlock tougher cases, and the option to disagree with Iris herself.
Three to five hidden endings per book. Reach them by playing differently than you did the first time. Most readers find one. A few find them all.
If you're the parent, grandparent, teacher, or librarian doing the buying, here's what's actually in your hand.
