Book Scavenger (2015) is the debut novel by children’s author Jennifer Chambliss Bertman. Upon publication, it immediately became a New York Times bestseller and soon after the book was named an Amazon Book of the Year, Indie Top Ten Pick, and received more than 20 state awards and nominations. Book Scavenger has since been translated into 12 languages.

Book Scavenger is the first volume in a Middle Grade Detective series of the same name. Other titles include The Unbreakable Code (2017) and The Alcatraz Escape (2018), all set in San Francisco, California, where Bertman was born and raised. Book Scavenger takes place in contemporary San Francisco and incorporates many familiar local landmarks as hiding places in the Book Scavenger game. The novel uses a limited third-person narrative viewpoint, told primarily from the perspective of 12-year-old Emily Crane, though a few chapters feature narration from the standpoint of other minor characters. The book examines the themes of stability versus adventure, how to be a real friend, and the downsides of choosing to win at all costs.

Plot Summary

Emily, her teenage brother Matthew, and her parents move into a flat in San Francisco. The building is owned by the Asian American Lee family, and Emily quickly becomes friends with James Lee because they are the same age and share a love of puzzles. Emily enlists James in her Book Scavenger activities: hiding books around the city and solving other gamer’s clues to find books they’ve hidden. Emily idolizes the game’s creator, Garrison Griswold.

Griswold is accosted by two thugs in a metro station on his way to a press conference where he will announce his newest game. The thugs demand an old book he is supposedly carrying. Griswold is shot in the struggle, and his new edition of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Gold-Bug” is accidentally cast aside. Coincidentally, Emily and James stumble across the discarded copy of the book and are chased by the thugs themselves.

Only later does Emily realize that “The Gold-Bug” contains clues for Griswold’s new game. Since Griswold might not recover from his injuries, Emily is determined to solve what might be her last Book Scavenger game. Clues and riddles abound as James tries to win a cipher contest at school and Emily pursues her obsession with the Poe game. The two friends fight over conflicting priorities, which teaches Emily some important lessons about the value of friendship.

After being chased by the thugs and their employer, the kids manage to solve the Poe puzzle and unearth a rare undiscovered Poe manuscript. When Griswold recovers, he rewards them for winning his game. The story ends with Emily’s family deciding to remain for a few years in San Francisco. This will give Emily time to set down roots, develop a lasting friendship with James, and solve many more Book Scavenger puzzles.