Guest Review: “Book Scavenger”

In less than a week the second book in the “Book Scavenger” series, “The Unbreakable Code,” will be released. In honor of the occasion I’m turning the blog over today to my 12-year-old son/guest blogger. He is a kid who was practically born with a book in his hand, who, as I’ve mentioned before, exchanges birthday gifts with the town librarian. And if you haven’t read this book, it is definitely worth a read.

 

I personally enjoyed “Book Scavenger.” (link) I would say it is a middle school range book reading level. It was written by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman and as I picked it up I felt the jolt of knowing this would be a good book. This book is good for people who love ciphers.

On the cover it says “Book Scavenger — where life is a game and books are the tokens.” It reminded me of “Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library.”

The book is about a girl by the name of Emily. She has a brother who is named Matthew and a dad and a mom. This family travels around the country writing a blog about living in the 50 states. Emily had been born in Arizona then went to Washington, Massachusetts, New York, South Dakota, Illinois, Connecticut, and Colorado. At this point in the story they are coming from New Mexico and going to California. Emily’s brother has no problem making friends so the moves are easy for him but Emily is another story. The only upside to moving is that her literary idol Garrison Griswold’s bookshop “City Lights” is there. This is where she spends her time until she meets a new friend James, a cipher lover.

Garrison Griswold is so stunning that people nicknamed him the Willy Wonka of publishing. He also created a web game called Book Scavenger in which people read books and then hide them in public places. After they hide the books, they post clues on the website for people to solve so they can locate them. Every year Griswold makes a game in which the Book Scavengers (people who play Book Scavenger) are told books were hidden by him and they should find them and follow their clues to a bigger prize. But this year as Griswold is bringing his book to be copied and hidden, he is mugged and shot and his bag, book and all is stolen. Griswold is brought to a nearby hospital in critical condition. Emily finds out and worries about the rumors that are flying about whether or not he will make it. Then Emily realizes she may be able to find the solution and save Griswold’s game.

 

There is a hidden cipher in this blog post. Solve it to find out something more about “Book Scavenger.”

Check out The Unbreakable Code (Book #2)

Want to be a Book Scavenger? Click here http://bookscavenger.com to read about the real game!

Published by Katrina Ávila Munichiello

KAM is a freelance writer, editor, and lifelong lover of books. She was the kind of kid who woke up before sunrise to read before school and her passion for books has never waned. After nearly a decade of work in public health and the non-profit sector, she became a stay-at home mom. The twelve years since have allowed her discover a new life’s ambition — writing. She published her first book “A Tea Reader: Living Life One Cup at a Time,” a collection of essays written by tea lovers around the world, in 2011, and has had articles and essays featured in outlets including Yankee Magazine and Boston Globe Sunday Magazine. She served as Senior Editor of Tea Magazine. She currently writes picture books and middle grade books and is loving every minute of making them better. She is a member of NESCBWI, Vice President of Friends of the J.V. Fletcher Library and advisor of an elementary school Newspaper Club.

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