Book Scavenger
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
A New York Times-Bestseller!
“Full of heart and replete with challenging ciphers for readers to decode, Bertman’s debut is literary cousin to classic puzzlers like The Westing Game.” ―Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Fans of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library will appreciate the abundant literary allusions, and readers will hope for more adventures.” ―Shelf Awareness, starred review
For twelve-year-old Emily, the best thing about moving to San Francisco is that it's the home city of her literary idol: Garrison Griswold, book publisher and creator of the online sensation Book Scavenger (a game where books are hidden in cities all over the country and clues to find them are revealed through puzzles). Upon her arrival, however, Emily learns that Griswold has been attacked and is now in a coma, and no one knows anything about the epic new game he had been poised to launch. Then Emily and her new friend James discover an odd book, which they come to believe is from Griswold himself, and might contain the only copy of his mysterious new game.
Racing against time, Emily and James rush from clue to clue, desperate to figure out the secret at the heart of Griswold's new game—before those who attacked Griswold come after them too.
The Book Scavenger Series:
Book Scavenger (Book 1)
The Unbreakable Code (Book 2)
The Alcatraz Escape (Book 3)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When your parents' blog is called 50 Homes in 50 States, you had better be able to make new friends easily, but Emily Crane, 12, is shy. Still, there are two positives about her latest address: James, the fellow puzzle-lover downstairs, and the location San Francisco, home to Garrison Griswold, the "Willy Wonka of book publishing." Griswold is the mastermind behind Book Scavenger, a book-trading game with half a million followers, Emily included. After Griswold is gravely wounded by thieves who are after his special edition of Poe's The Gold-Bug, the book winds up in Emily's possession; she and James must solve the mystery surrounding the book before the bad guys do. Full of heart and replete with challenging ciphers for readers to decode, Bertman's debut is literary cousin to classic puzzlers like The Westing Game, and a story that values books and reading above other pursuits. Sure to be popular with voracious readers, it's also a valentine to anybody who knows that a 13-digit clue that begins with 978- is not a phone number. Art not seen by PW. Ages 9 14.
Customer Reviews
Mostly enjoyable
We loved the ciphers and puzzles. There were some things in the book that weren’t necessary to the story line, but we were entertained overall.
Disappointing and extremely predictable
This book was so predictable and boring. The characters were extremely unlikable and rude. The settings of this book was also very unrealistic. The author fails to capture the reader. I had to skip through a lot of it because it was so hard to read. This book is one of my least favorite books.
Excruciatingly boring
Teachers are required to read this book to us out loud in certain periods of time at school. I will say one thing: Nobody ever finds interest in it, none of us listen and most of us are spotted being off task during the read aloud. The foreshadowing and future events of this book are way too predictable, it needs immense improvement.