Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman Page A

you call that guy? A … poacher? Can we find out anything about him?”
    Emily pulled the card from her backpack and typed “Babbage” into the user search. She clicked on the profile and was surprised to see that Babbage ranked Sherlock Holmes level, the highest possible level.
    â€œThat rat! He didn’t even need those points. Selfish poacher,” Emily muttered.
    â€œPoints don’t matter when you’re at the top level?” James asked.
    â€œWell, you can still use them at the Book Scavenger and Bayside Press stores. And some people are just competitive and want to see how high they can get their point total.”
    It would take her a long while to get to Sherlock Holmes level, but once Emily did, she’d probably be one of those competitive people.
    â€œHas Babbage declared any books?” James asked. “Maybe we could beat him to one of the books he’s hunting.”
    Emily clicked on Babbage’s profile to look at his hidden books but was stopped by another discovery.
    â€œBooker Middle School!” James read. “He goes to our school?”
    â€œOr she,” Emily said. Knowing Babbage was a middle schooler just like them made her all the more irritated that he or she had poached Tom Sawyer .
    â€œCan’t we see their picture?”
    â€œThere isn’t one uploaded.” Babbage used a generic avatar, just like Emily.
    She scanned Babbage’s book listings. The user hadn’t declared any titles, but he or she had hidden several recently. When you hid a book and uploaded the clue, you selected a detective category to give other users an idea of how tricky it might be to find your hidden book. Babbage had rated all of his or her clues at Sherlock level, so they were almost definitely beyond Emily’s cipher-cracking capabilities.
    The computer dinged, and an instant-message box popped up.
    RAVEN: Can I be of service?
    â€œWho asks if they can be of service?” James said. “Is Raven a butler or something?”
    Emily shrugged. “Beats me.”
    SURLY WOMBAT: Service with what?

    RAVEN: You inquired about THE GOLD-BUG.
    â€œOh!” Emily straightened. “That was fast. Raven knows about the book! See? I knew it was a Book Scavenger book.”
    SURLY WOMBAT: Did you hide it in the BART station?

    RAVEN: I cannot reveal the locations.
    â€œThe location’s been revealed, you weirdo,” Emily said. “How else would I know about it?”
    SURLY WOMBAT: I already know the location. I found THE GOLD-BUG in the BART station. I’m trying to get credit for it.

    RAVEN: THE GOLD-BUG is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, originally published in 1843. Poe won a short story contest and the prize was publication in a local paper. It was a popular story in its day and brought attention to cryptograms and secret writing.
    â€œWhat’s with the history lesson?” James asked.
    Emily sighed. “I don’t think Raven actually hid this book. She’s probably one of those know-it-alls who likes to flaunt every fact in her head. Yippee for you, you know a lot about Edgar Allan Poe.” Emily closed the instant-message box with a sharp click of the mouse.
    â€œLet’s see if there’s anything new about Mr. Griswold in the hospital,” Emily said.
    In the forums, there weren’t any news updates, but Emily did see a thread under the “Garrison Griswold” category titled “What if…” A user from South Carolina had posted: Don’t want to be a downer, but I just had a sad thought. What happens to Book Scavenger if Mr. G doesn’t make it?
    Emily breathed in sharply. She had been worried about Mr. Griswold and what it meant that he was in critical care, but it never crossed her mind that something happening to him could mean something happening to Book Scavenger, too. She skimmed the posted reactions, finding an assortment of replies. Most people were positive about