House of Danger should definitely stay on the syllabus. This book's whimsical and juvenile nature provides an intellectually provoking contrast against the heavier books in this course. This text aids to our understanding of the omnipresence of manipulation. It is not just Vonnegut and Dick's texts that take advantage of us, as Montgomery shows us, we have been victims since our early years. This text acts as a liaison of sorts between our manipulation as readers, and our manipulation as members of society. After reading this book I find myself more conscience of the manipulation I too blindly follow.
An interesting tactic may be to have students read this text in the middle of the semester. This way, in addition to an nice break from the longer books, students can apply their understanding of this alternative mode of manipulation, alternative in the sense of blatant rather than discrete, to the denser texts in the latter half of the semester. Another suggestion is to require students to read one of the books of the "Choose Your Own Adventure", but not specify which one. This way, the students all have even more variant experiences with the texts, but yet all still experience Montgomery's (His team of writers, really) mode of manipulation.
At a mere half inch in thickness, House of Danger's benefits highly outweigh its drawbacks. I vote for this book to keep its spot on the starting roster.
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