The Unbreakable Code (Book Scavenger Series #2)

by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

Overview

A New York Times-Bestseller!

Could books hidden through Book Scavenger be linked to an arsonist's web of destruction? Find out in Book 2 of Jennifer Bertman's Book Scavenger series.

Mr. Quisling is definitely up to something mysterious, and Emily and James are on high alert. First, there’s the coded note he drops at a book event. Then they uncover a trail of encrypted messages in Mark Twain-penned books hidden through Book Scavenger. What’s most suspicious is that each hidden book triggers a fire.
As the sleuthing friends dig deeper, they discover Mr. Quisling has been hunting a legendary historical puzzle: the Unbreakable Code. This new mystery is irresistible, but Emily and James can’t ignore the signs that Mr. Quisling might be the arsonist. The clock is ticking as the fires multiply, and Emily and James race to crack the code of a lifetime.

This title has Common Core connections.

A Christy Ottaviano Book

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781627791168
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	04/25/2017
Series:	Book Scavenger Series , #2
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	417,756
Product dimensions:	4.80(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.30(d)
Lexile:	840L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 14 Years

About the Author

Jennifer Chambliss Bertman was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She holds an MFA in creative writing and has worked for literary agencies, magazines, educational publishers, and as a freelance copyeditor and proofreader. She is the author of Book Scavenger.

Editorial Reviews

A New York Times-Bestseller!
A Junior Library Guild Selection
A California Beatty Award Nominee

"Brisk, bookish good fun for puzzle and code lovers."-Kirkus Reviews

"Bertman offers . . . a large, interesting cast of characters, plenty of challenges for code enthusiasts, and more complexity than most middle-grade mysteries. Young readers captivated by these distinctive characters will be hoping for the series to continue."-Booklist Online

"A successful sequel . . . Readers who loved the first volume will find this follow-up even more satisfying."—School Library Journal

Praise for Book Scavenger:
A New York Times-Bestseller
An Indie Next List Pick
An NCTE Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts
A Bank Street College Best Book of the Year
A Publishers Weekly Best Book for Summer
A Texas Lamplighter Award Nominee
A Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Award Nominee
A Georgia Children's Book Award Finalist
A Colorado Book Award Finalist
A Maryland Black Eyed Susan Award Nominee
A Utah Educational Library Media Association Master List Selection
A Missouri Gateway Award Nominee
A Nebraska Golden Sower Award Finalist
A Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award Nominee
A Utah Beehive Award Nominee
An Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Award Nominee
An Illinois Bluestem Award Nominee
A Mississippi Magnolia Children's Choice Book Award Nominee
A Rhode Island Middle School Book Award Nominee

"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." -Publishers Weekly, starred review

"How I adored this book! It's a page-turning thriller, a valentine to the storied city of San Francisco, an exploration of the nature of friendship and family, a feast for puzzle aficionados and code breakers, and a celebration of the community of book lovers everywhere. It's off the charts wonderful." -Claudia Mills, author of Kelsey Green, Reading Queen and Zero Tolerance

"Book Scavenger is that flashlight-under-the-bedcovers book that would have gotten me into serious trouble when I was a kid." -Jody Feldman, author of The Gollywopper Games

"Book Scavenger is the book I dreamed of when I was young. Adventure! Ciphers! Hidden treasure! And it's all for the love and celebration of books! This book nerd couldn't put it down, and you won't be able to either." -K.A. Holt, author of Rhyme Schemer

From the Publisher

03/01/2017
Gr 4–6—This second installment leaps in right where the first left off, with middle schoolers Emily and James on the trail of a new coded mystery. Things are heating up as an arsonist called The Phoenix leaves a trail of hidden books and small fires all over San Francisco. While worrying about family finances, figuring out what their teacher Mr. Quisling is up to, taking part in a historical treasure hunt, and planning the school dance, the intrepid heroes have more than enough on their cipher-loving minds. Though the plot stands alone, readers may need to revisit the first book in the series to catch up on necessary exposition. Without the weight of explanation, though, the story speeds satisfyingly along and is, all in all, a successful sequel. Includes supplementary back matter on geographical and historical references. VERDICT Readers who loved the first volume will find this follow-up even more satisfying. Purchase extra copies where there are fans.—Katya Schapiro, Brooklyn Public Library

School Library Journal

2017-01-17
Riddles in an online book-finding game put young cipher sleuths Emily and James on the trail of both buried treasure and a vengeful arsonist.Amid a welter of clues, codes, mysterious fires, literary references, glimpses of San Francisco sites and history, and developing relationships carried over from the 2015 opener, the tale takes a suspenseful course. It builds increasingly following Emily's discovery that her social sciences teacher, Mr. Quisling, is receiving coded clues to copies of Tom Sawyer that have been hidden around the city. The seeming game takes a sinister turn when someone (introduced to readers as "the Phoenix" in ominous interludes) torches the bookstore in which Emily loves to hang out, nearly killing her—and then an exhilarating one when Emily, who is white, and her Chinese-American best friend, James, decipher a message in a supposedly unbreakable code on a document that once belonged to Mark Twain. Bertman surrounds Emily with a supporting cast that is diverse in age and personality if not so much in race, and though the arsonist is summarily hustled off after a tidy confession, the multistranded plot does wind up to a climactic conflagration, the excavation of a glittering 19th-century trove, and broad hints of sequels to come. Brisk, bookish good fun for puzzle and code lovers. (historical afterword) (Mystery. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews