secret codes and a wild, San Francisco adventure-mystery

Book Scavenger, by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman, with illustrations by Sarah Watts
published in 2015 by Christy Ottaviano Books/Henry Holt and Company

Garrison Griswold is the Willy Wonka of the literary world.

He’s created the enormously popular game of Book Scavenger — featuring hidden books, secret ciphers, and tantalizing codes.

Emily, age 12, is a Book Scavenger devotee. She’s just moved to San Francisco, made a new friend in James — codebreaker extraordinaire — and stumbled upon Griswold’s top-secret new treasure hunt. So far, so good.

But Griswold has been ambushed and shot. Sinister guys are on the trail of the treasure, which means they’re after Emily and James!

Hair-raising adventure, copious codes, lessons in friendship, mortal danger, Edgar Allan Poe, Jack Kerouac, San Francisco landmarks, and loads of book love in this enjoyable, fast-paced novel for ages 10 and up.