Books like 'Scar Island'
Readers who enjoyed Scar Island by Dan Gemeinhart also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary action / adventure mystery horror realistic survival suspense children bullying friendship
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Different Seasons by Stephen King
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 67 ratingsFrom the Magical Pen of Stephen King, Four Mesmerizing Novellas…“Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”An unjustly imprisoned convict seeks a strange and startling revenge…the basis for the Best Picture Academy Award nominee The Shawshank Redemption... -
Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsPip is not a detective anymore.With the help of Ravi Singh, she released a true-crime podcast about the murder case they solved together last year. The podcast has gone viral, yet Pip insists her investigating days are behind her.But she will have to break that promise when someone she knows goes missing... -
The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsIn the six months since Anthony, Lucy, and George survived a night in the most haunted house in England, Lockwood & Co. hasn't made much progress. Quill Kipps and his team of Fittes agents keep swooping in on Lockwood's investigations... -
The Hollow Boy by Jonathan Stroud
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsAs a massive outbreak of supernatural Visitors baffles Scotland Yard and causes protests throughout London, Lockwood & Co. continue to demonstrate their effectiveness in exterminating spirits. Anthony Lockwood is dashing, George insightful, and Lucy dynamic, while the skull in the jar utters sardonic advice from the sidelines... -
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After the Fire by Will Hill
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe things I've seen are burned into me, like scars that refuse to fade.Before, she lived inside the fence. Before, she was never allowed to leave the property, never allowed to talk to Outsiders, never allowed to speak her mind. Because Father John controlled everything—and Father John liked rules. Disobeying Father John came with terrible consequences... -
The Order of Brigid's Cross by Terri Reid
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDetective Sean O’Reilly is called in to interrogate a young boy who is the only witness to a massacre during a gang war. The child’s story is too far-fetched for most of the Chicago Police Force to believe – claims of an army of other-worldly creatures who attacked and dismembered the rival gangs. But Sean O’Reilly believes him, because he’s seen them himself... -
A Mind Full of Murder by Derek Landy
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA bone-shaking new trilogy begins – the latest adventure in the bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant seriesSIX YEARS AGO, THE UNIVERSE ENDED.When it restarted, blinking back into existence, it brought with it a darkness that remains hidden from the mortal population.A week ago – fuelled by unimaginable hatred and unstoppable rage – a masked sorcerer killed one of those mortals. Then he killed another... -
The Body by Robin Waterfield, Stephen King
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsFrom Different Seasons The Body, as a media tie-in for the movie starring River Phoenix, Kiefer Sutherland, Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman and Jerry O'Connell... -
Deep and Dark and Dangerous (A Ghost Story) by Mary Downing Hahn
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsJust before summer begins, 13-year-old Ali finds an odd photograph in the attic. She knows the two children in it are her mother, Claire, and her aunt Dulcie...Categorized as:
children family friendship law-enforcement realistic spooky suspense action-adventure -
These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNo electricity, no family, no connection to the outside world. For eight years, Cooper and his young daughter, Finch, have lived in isolation in a remote cabin in the northern Appalachian woods. And that's exactly the way Cooper wants it, because he's got a lot to hide. Finch has been raised on the books filling the cabin’s shelves and the beautiful but brutal code of life in the wilderness... -
When by Victoria Laurie, Whitney Dykhouse
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsPretty Little Liars meets Medium in this fast-paced thriller and fantastic YA debut from a New York Times bestselling author.Maddie Fynn is a shy high school junior, cursed with an eerie intuitive ability: she sees a series of unique digits hovering above the foreheads of each person she encounters... -
Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWe don’t pick and choose what to be afraid of. Our fears pick us.Tash Carmody has been traumatised since childhood, when she witnessed her gruesome imaginary friend Sparrow lure young Mallory Fisher away from a carnival. At the time nobody believed Tash, and she has since come to accept that Sparrow wasn’t real. Now fifteen and mute, Mallory’s never spoken about the week she went missing... -
The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsDear Reader, If this is the first book you found while searching for a book to read next, then the first thing you should know is that this next-to-last book is what you should put down first. Sadly, this book presents the next-to-last chronicle of the lives of the Baudelaire orphans, and it is next-to-first in its supply of misery, despair, and unpleasantness... -
Ghost in the Machine by Patrick Carman
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe chilling second book in the innovative series from bestselling author Patrick Carman. Strange things are happening in Skeleton Creek...and Ryan and Sarah are trying to find out why. Ryan writes down everything in his journal, and Sarah records everything on her videocam...Categorized as:
children friendship high-school law-enforcement realistic suspense action-adventure book -
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Stolen Children by Peg Kehret
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsAmy learned a lot in her babysitting course, but not what to do if two thugs show up, intent on kidnapping. Armed with misinformation and a weapon, the men take Amy and little Kendra to a remote cabin in the woods. There they make videos of the girls and mail them to Kendra’s wealthy parents in an effort to get ransom money... -
Abduction! by Peg Kehret
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMatt is missing. Bonnie's brother left his classroom to use thebathroom —and disappeared. A police dog traces his scent to the curb, where he apparently got into a vehicle. But why would Matt go anywhere with a stranger? Overwhelmed with fear, Bonnie discovers that her dog is gone, too. Was Pookie used as a lure for Matt? Bonnie makes one big mistake in her attempt to find her brother... -
The Memory Wood by Sam Lloyd
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTHE MUST-READ RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK. Chilling, moving and unputdownable, The Memory Wood is a thriller like no other. 'Beautifully told, with two superbly drawn young protagonists, Lloyd is a rare new thriller talent' Daily Mail'Superbly creepy, with an unexpected twist' Guardian'Brilliant writing, a terrifying story, and characters so real it feels like you know them... -
Blood of My Blood by Barry Lyga
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsJazz Dent has never been closer to catching his father.Jazz has been shot and left to die in New York. His girlfriend, Connie, is in the clutches of Jazz's monstrous father, Billy--the world's most notorious serial killer. And his best friend, Howie, is bleeding to death on the floor of Jazz's new home... -
The Last Child by John Hart
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThirteen year-old Johnny Merrimon had the perfect life: a warm home and loving parents; a twin sister, Alyssa, with whom he shared an irreplaceable bond. He knew nothing of loss, until the day Alyssa vanished from the side of a lonely street. Now, a year later, Johnny finds himself isolated and alone, failed by the people he'd been taught since birth to trust... -
Game by Barry Lyga
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsBilly grinned. “Oh, New York,” he whispered. “We’re gonna have so much fun.”I Hunt Killers introduced the world to Jazz, the son of history’s most infamous serial killer, Billy Dent.In an effort to prove murder didn’t run in the family, Jazz teamed with the police in the small town of Lobo’s Nod to solve a deadly case... -
The Missing Piece of Charlie O'Reilly by Rebecca Ansari
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCharlie O’Reilly is an only child. Which is why it makes everyone uncomfortable when he talks about his brother. Liam, his eight-year-old kid brother, who, up until a year ago, slept in the bunk above Charlie, took pride in being as annoying as possible, and was the only person who could make Charlie laugh until it hurt.Then came the morning when the bunk, and Liam, disappeared forever...Categorized as:
children family friendship grief historical-fiction spooky suspense action-adventure -
Long Lost by Jacqueline West
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEleven-year-old Fiona has just read a book that doesn’t exist. When Fiona’s family moves to be closer to her older sister’s figure skating club—and far from Fiona’s close-knit group of friends—nobody seems to notice Fiona’s unhappiness. Alone and out of place, Fiona ventures to the town’s library, a rambling mansion donated to the town by the long-dead heiress... -
The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage, Lauren Fortgang
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe eagerly anticipated followup to the Newbery honor winner and New York Times bestseller, Three Times LuckySmall towns have rules. One is, you got to stay who you are -- no matter how many murders you solve.When Miss Lana makes an Accidental Bid at the Tupelo auction and winds up the mortified owner of an old inn, she doesn't realize there's a ghost in the fine print... -
Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsFurnace Penitentiary: the world’s most secure prison for young offenders, buried a mile beneath the earth’s surface. Convicted of a murder he didn’t commit, sentenced to life without parole, “new fish” Alex Sawyer knows he has two choices: find a way out, or resign himself to a death behind bars, in the darkness at the bottom of the world. Except in Furnace, death is the least of his worries... -
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Room by Emma Donoghue
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 85 ratingsTo five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world....Told in the inventive, funny, and poignant voice of Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience—and a powerful story of a mother and son whose love lets them survive the impossible.To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play... -
The End by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsThe last volume of the fabulously popular A Series of Unfortunate Events series, in which the history of the Baudelaire orphans is brought to its end.You are presumably looking at the back of this book, or the end of the end... -
Just South of Home by Karen Strong
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCousins Sarah and Janie unearth a tragic event in their small Southern town’s history in this witty middle grade novel that’s perfect for fans of Stella by Starlight, The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing, and As Brave as You.Twelve-year-old Sarah is finally in charge...Categorized as:
children family friendship historical-fiction law-enforcement poc-mc realistic spooky -
Digital Velocity by Reily Garrett, Rylan Killian
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe deadliest weapons are the ones we never see. Keyboard prodigy, Lexi Donovan has risen from teenage orphan of the streets to complete independence with little help along the way. When a friend is threatened, Lexi’s anonymous message sends police into a firefight, leading to a wounded cop... -
#NoEscape (Volume 3) by Gretchen McNeil
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe #murder and mayhem continue in this prequel companion novel to the grisly, campy social media insanity that is #MurderTrending and #MurderFunding. Gretchen McNeil brings her signature wit and merciless kills to this gruesome yet hilarious, wildly topical young adult novel.Twenty years before Dee Guerra and the Death Row Breakfast Club took down The Postman and Alcatraz 2... -
Legend of the Ghost Dog by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA thrilling mystery set against a stark landscape and the inspiration of Nome's real-life dog hero, Balto.Twelve-year-old Tee didn't think she believed in ghosts . . . until a walk in the woods around her new rural Alaskan home changes her mind. She and her beagle, Henry, are stalked by a wolfish, decidedly spooky shadow. There's something out there - and it's not of this world...Categorized as:
children coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction law-enforcement realistic spooky -
What Waits in the Water by Kieran Scott
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHannah is excited to spend some time at her best friend Jacob's lake house this summer. The catch? Hannah's annoying new stepsister, Katie, is tagging along. Katie is wild and pretty and seems to have a THING for Jacob. Hannah's not jealous...or is she? To make matters worse, the town they're staying in is sort of...creepy...Categorized as:
law-enforcement realistic suspense action-adventure book contemporary fiction horror -
Count All Her Bones by April Henry
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsCheyenne sets out to save her former captor in this much-anticipated sequel to Girl, Stolen.Six months ago, Griffin Sawyer meant to steal a car, but he never meant to steal the girl asleep in the backseat. Panicked, he took her home. His father, Roy, decided to hold Cheyenne―who is blind―for ransom. Griffin helped her escape, and now Roy is awaiting trial... -
The Body by Stephen King
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSet in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King’s timeless novella “The Body”—originally published in his 1982 short story collection Different Seasons, and adapted into the 1986 film classic Stand by Me—is now available as a stand-alone publication.It’s 1960 in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine...Categorized as:
coming-of-age crime friendship historical-fiction law-enforcement realistic spooky suspense -
The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die by April Henry
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratings“Take her out back and finish her off.”She doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know where she is, or why. All she knows when she comes to in a ransacked cabin is that there are two men arguing over whether or not to kill her.And that she must run.In her riveting style, April Henry crafts a nail-biting thriller involving murder, identity theft, and biological warfare... -
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Girl, Stolen by April Henry
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsSixteen-year-old Cheyenne Wilder is sleeping in the back of the car while her stepmom fills a prescription for antibiotics. Before Cheyenne realizes what's happening, the car is being stolen.Griffin hadn't meant to kidnap Cheyenne and once he finds out that not only does she have pneumonia, but that she's blind, he really doesn't know what to do... -
The Stillwater Girls by Minka Kent
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsTwo sisters raised in fear are about to find out why in a chilling novel of psychological suspense from the author of The Thinnest Air.Ignorant of civilization and cautioned against its evils, nineteen-year-old Wren and her two sisters, Sage and Evie, were raised in off-the-grid isolation in a primitive cabin in upstate New York... -
The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsAnna and Abel couldn’t be more different. They are both seventeen and in their last year of school, but while Anna lives in a nice old town house and comes from a well-to-do family, Abel, the school drug dealer, lives in a big, prisonlike tower block at the edge of town. Anna is afraid of him until she realizes that he is caring for his six-year-old sister on his own... -
The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsDear Reader,If you have not read anything about the Baudelaire orphans, then before you read even one more sentence, you should know this: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are kindhearted and quick-witted; but their lives, I am sorry to say, are filled with bad luck and misery. All of the stories about these three children are unhappy and wretched, and this one may be the worst of them all... -
Savage Drift by Emmy Laybourne
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe stunningly fierce conclusion to Emmy Laybourne's Monument 14 trilogy.The survivors of the Monument 14 have finally made it to the safety of a Canadian refugee camp. Dean and Alex are cautiously starting to hope that a happy ending might be possible.But for Josie, separated from the group and trapped in a brutal prison camp for exposed Type Os, things have gone from bad to worse... -
Right Behind You by Gail Giles
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen he was nine, Kip set another child on fire. Now, after years in a juvenile ward, he is ready for a fresh start. But the ghosts of his past soon demand justice, and he must reveal his painful secret... -
Violent Ends by Beth Revis, Blythe Woolston
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn a one-of-a-kind collaboration, seventeen of the most recognizable YA writers—including Shaun David Hutchinson, Neal and Brendan Shusterman, and Beth Revis—come together to share the viewpoints of a group of students affected by a school shooting... -
Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWe Need Diverse Books founder Ellen Oh returns with Spirit Hunters, a high-stakes middle grade mystery series about Harper Raine, the new seventh grader in town who must face down the dangerous ghosts haunting her younger brother... -
The Silence of Six by E.C. Myers
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“What is the silence of six, and what are you going to do about it?”These are the last words uttered by 17-year-old Max Stein’s best friend, Evan: Just moments after hacking into the live-streaming Presidential debate at their high school, he kills himself...Categorized as:
crime friendship high-school law-enforcement realistic suspense action-adventure book -
Surrender Your Sons by Adam Sass
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsConnor Major’s summer break is turning into a nightmare. His SAT scores bombed, the old man he delivers meals to died, and when he came out to his religious zealot mother, she had him kidnapped and shipped off to a secluded island. His final destination: Nightlight Ministries, a conversion therapy camp that will be his new home until he “changes.” But Connor’s troubles are only beginning... -
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Anatomy of a Murderer by Tim Floreen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA teenage sociopath is “fixed” after he gets an implant that’s supposed to cure him in this thrilling coming-of-age tale from the author of Willful Machines.A year ago, Rem Braithwaite watched his classmate Franklin Kettle commit a horrific crime.Now, apart from the nightmares, life has gone back to normal for Rem. Franklin was caught, convicted, and put away in juvenile detention for what he did... -
The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 67 ratingsDear Reader,You have undoubtedly picked up this book by mistake, so please put it down. Nobody in their right mind would read this particular book about the lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire on purpose, because each dismal moment of their stay in the village of V.F.D. has been faithfully and dreadfully recorded in these pages... -
Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsNew York Times bestselling adult author of The Bear and the Nightingale makes her middle grade debut with a creepy, spellbinding ghost story destined to become a classicAfter suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books... -
The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA hard-hitting and hopeful story about the dangers of blind faith—and the power of having faith in yourself The Kevinian cult has taken everything from seventeen-year-old Minnow: twelve years of her life, her family, her ability to trust. And when she rebelled, they took away her hands, too... -
I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWhat if the world's worst serial killer...was your dad?Jasper "Jazz" Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.But he's also the son of the world's most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could—from the criminal's point of view.And now bodies are piling up in Lobo's Nod... -
Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsKeeping secrets is second nature to Nearly Boswell. Living in a trailer park outside Washington, DC, with a mom who works as an exotic dancer, she knows better than to share anything that would make her a target with her classmates...
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