Review by Booklist Review
To Emily, who has moved 8 times in her 12 years, San Francisco seems the ideal place to live. She quickly finds a good friend in her neighbor James, and the city is the headquarters of her beloved Book Scavenger game, which combines reading, puzzle solving, and treasure hunting. After Garrison Griswold, the game's creator, is mugged, Emily finds a unique book near the crime scene. Soon she and James are playing Griswold's new game, trying to elude the thugs who attacked him and investigating who is behind the crime. The occasional black-and-white illustration, cipher picture, or map adds to the fun for readers, who will want to play along and they can, too, at www.bookscavenger.com. Well paced and involving, the story will intrigue kids with an interest in mysteries and codes as well as books. The writing includes references to local landmarks as well as literary allusions to Jack Kerouac, Robert Louis Stevenson, and, especially, Edgar Allan Poe. A lively first novel, this could be the start of a new mystery series.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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. Author's agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary Agency. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Twelve-year-old Emily doesn't have enough time to get attached to places. She and her family move yearly, pursuing a Kerouac-inspired, footloose family adventure. Through their travels, Emily anchors herself through an online community called Book Scavenger, a geocaching-style game where participants hide books in public places and reveal the locations through encoded clues. Book Scavenger is the brainchild of Garrison Griswold, the "Willy Wonka of publishing," a San Francisco-based publisher with a penchant for elaborate spectacles and games. When Emily's family moves to San Francisco, she's excited to encounter the elusive Griswold and to participate in his newest game. Unfortunately, he is attacked on his way to a press conference, and even Emily's beloved Book Scavenger may be in jeopardy. The key to it all just might be in a mysterious book that Emily and her new neighbor James found at the BART station, but time is running short, and sinister (if bumbling) forces pursue them. Sprinkled with ciphers, San Francisco landmarks, and literary allusions, Book Scavenger is a fun, light, implausible adventure. The action drags occasionally, and the characterizations are sparse and sometimes overly cute, but the book's goofy, feckless charm is undeniable. VERDICT This will appeal to fans of Blue Balliett's art-world mysteries.-Katya Schapiro, Brooklyn Public Library © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Twelve-year-old Emily is an avid player of Book Scavenger, the hidden-book game masterminded by publishing legend Garrison Griswold. When her family moves to San Francisco, home of Griswolds Bayside Press, she hopes it will position her favorably for the new game hes about to launch. But then Griswold is mugged and left in a coma, and the book he was carryinga new edition of the Edgar Allan Poe short story The Gold-Bugis missing. At the site of the mugging, Emily and her new friend and fellow code-enthusiast James find the book and take it home, where, upon reading it, they discover typos in the text that spell out words: fort, wild, rat, home, open, belief. Emily and James start following the cluesbut nefarious others want the book, and theyve already shown theyre willing to hurt people to get it. Codes and ciphers star in this puzzle-game of a novel, offering challenges for code-breaking fanatics plus plentiful explanations for those who prefer that someone else do the legwork. A hiccup in Emily and Jamess new-fledged friendship and questions over which of their adult accessories are trustworthy create an emotional arc that supports the more cerebral treasure-hunt aspects, while the solution employs so many San Francisco landmarks that the city and its literary history take a best-supporting-player award. An intriguing authors note gives further information on Poes love of ciphers, the strange story of his literary executor Rufus Griswold, and the outcome of a real-life book-based treasure hunt from 1979. anita l. burkam(c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
San Francisco landmarks and their rich literary histories lead two friends on an urban quest to solve clues left behind in an Edgar Allan Poe book by publisher and Book Scavenger mastermind Garrison Griswold. When Emily Crane, a book enthusiast and puzzle-solver, moves into her new apartment, she meets James Lee, a cipher-solving whiz with a cowlick he's named Steve. For years Emily has moved from state to state with her parents and older brother, and she longs for stability. She doesn't allow herself to get attached, unlike James, whose Chinese-American family has lived in the same apartment building for decades. When Griswold is attacked, Emily fears for his life and the future of Book Scavenger, her beloved online geocachinglike game for books. After a disappointing book hunt at the Ferry Building, Emily finds an unexpected hardcover, The Gold-Bug, near where Griswold was attacked. Believing the book is Griswold's pre-launched game, she becomes obsessed with solving its hidden messages while dodging two thugs and risking her friendship with James. Puzzling out the clever ciphers fascinates and adds dimension and curiosity to each quest. The characters' use of both high and low tech, such as the letter-basket pulley they set up between floors, feels refreshing. Emily's sleuthing weaves well with her journey to nurture friendships and set down everlasting roots. A debut that challenges the brain while warming the heart. (author's note) (Fiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
