Buster's Book Battle

"Buster's Book Battle" is the first half of the eighth episode of season 16. It aired on May 8th, 2013, along with "On the Buster Scale".

Summary
Lakewood Elementary has just instituted IRP; a program where kids can earn points (and prizes!) for reading. Buster's thrilled and gets to work straight away! But will he earn enough points for a skateboard?

Plot
The episode starts at the school carnival, with Buster winning a giant panda and knocking the bottles down just by eating a pretzel. He comments on how easy it is to win toys and prizes these days.

A less-than-thrilled Mr. Ratburn tells the class about IRP, a system that allows you to optionally take computerized quizzes on books you have read. You can earn points, and at the end of two weeks, these points can be redeemed for prizes. Buster is especially intrigued at the prospect of prizes, and gets to work right away.

Simply reading bedtime stories, Buster earns 23 points. However, Francine earns 35, for reading the series entitled ''Loki Benediktssen and the Teenage Aesir. ''Buster seeks more points, so he decides to start reading the series. Unfortunately, he finds it boring, and after getting less points than Francine did for incorrect answers, he gives up on IRP altogether. Buster's mom Bitzi gives him a manuscript of a book her co-worker from the newspaper made. The story is entitled City of Droids, about a crime-fighting cyborg detective named Kilgore. Buster is entranced by the story and reads it non-stop. When Buster asks Mr. Ratburn how many points he can get for reading it, he is shocked to learn that IRP has no quiz for City of Droids, or several other books for that matter. Wanting the skateboard for 500 points, Buster takes Francine's advice and reads Loki again. Kilgore and Loki themselves appear in Buster's room as a metaphorical dream sequence, trying to convince Buster to read their books. It results in a physical altercation, with Kilgore getting the better of Loki and forcing him to retreat.

In the end, receiving at least 30 points, Buster chooses City of Droids and cashes in his points on a crazy straw. Francine gets 500 points, but the skateboard is actually much smaller than advertised, angering her. She then denounces the Loki series. Buster also gives Arthur City of Droids to read.

​Characters

 * Buster Baxter
 * Arthur Read
 * Francine Frensky
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Nigel Ratburn
 * Bitzi Baxter

Trivia

 * There's no way Buster would have been able to take a quiz for ​City of Droids because the book was never even published.

Cultural references

 * Loki Benediktssen and the Teenage Aesir is a parody of Percy Jackson & the Olympians.
 * Some books IRP doesn't conduct quizzes for include Treasure Island and Watership Down.
 * ​​One of the books Buster reads at the start of the IRP program is Goodnight Universe, a parody of Goodnight Moon.

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