Books like 'Itch: The Explosive Adventures of an Element Hunter'
Readers who enjoyed Itch: The Explosive Adventures of an Element Hunter by Simon Mayo also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary sc-fi action / adventure mystery children family suspense realistic drama survival
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Dawn's Light by Terri Blackstock
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the face of a crisis that sweeps an entire high-tech planet back to the age before electricity, the Brannings face a choice... -
Payback by Gordon Korman
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the master of middle grade, Gordon Korman, comes the final book in the bestselling Masterminds series — about a group of kids who discover they were cloned from the DNA of some of the greatest criminal masterminds in history.After a serious betrayal from one of their former friends, the clones of Project Osiris are on the run again... -
Night Light by Terri Blackstock
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhat happens when the lights go out and don't come back on? At first, of course, the power shutdown seems like a minor inconvenience or even an occasion for merriment; but as this temporary crisis lengthens into months, it becomes apparent that this global blackout is a catastrophe of biblical proportions... -
Masterminds: Criminal Destiny by Gordon Korman
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"A terrific page-turner, full of unexpected twists and revelations. Buckle up!"—James PattersonThe second book in the acclaimed, action-packed series from New York Times bestselling author Gordon Korman. Stranger Things fans, don't miss this trilogy!The clones of Project Osiris are free—but they’re being hunted... -
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Rise of the Elgen by Richard Paul Evans
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsMichael must save his mother—and protect his powers—in the electric sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling Michael Vey, from Richard Paul Evans.Michael was born with special electrical powers—and he’s not the only one. His friend Taylor has them too, and so do other kids around the world... -
Battle of the Ampere by Richard Paul Evans
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsThe hair-raising action continues for Michael Vey in this charged third installment of the #1 New York Times bestselling series.Michael, Taylor, Ostin and the rest of the Electroclan have destroyed the largest of the Elgen Starxource plants, but now they’re scattered across the Amazon jungle... -
Fever by Deon Meyer
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNico Storm and his father Willem drive a truck filled with essential supplies through a desolate land. They are among the few in South Africa--and the world, as far as they know--to have survived a devastating virus which has swept through the country... -
Masterminds by Gordon Korman
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsThe first book in the action-packed trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Gordon Korman is perfect for fans of Stranger Things and James Patterson. Eli Frieden has never left Serenity, New Mexico...why would he ever want to? Then one day, he bikes to the edge of the city limits and something so crazy and unexpected happens, it changes everything... -
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 47 ratingsConnor, Risa, and Lev are running for their lives.The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end... -
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, Andy Weir
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 87 ratingsJason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.- - -'Are you happy in your life?'Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious...Categorized as:
drama family survival suspense 21st-century action-adventure alternate-history alternate-universe -
Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsAfter their parents are lost in an accident, thirteen-year old twins Grace and Marty are whisked away to live with their Uncle Wolfe-an uncle that they didn't even know they had! The intimidating Uncle Wolfe is an anthropologist who has dedicated his life to finding cryptids, mysterious creatures believed to be long extinct... -
The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsNo one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood... -
UnSouled by Neal Shusterman
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsTeens fight for their humanity in this thrilling third book in the New York Times bestselling Unwind Dystology series by Neal Shusterman.Connor and Lev are on the run after the destruction of the Graveyard, the last safe haven for AWOL unwinds... -
The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsMy name is Michael Vey, and the story I’m about to tell you is strange. Very strange. It’s my story.To everyone at Meridian High School, Michael Vey is an ordinary fourteen-year-old. In fact, the only thing that seems to set him apart is the fact that he has Tourette’s syndrome. But Michael is anything but ordinary. Michael has special powers. Electric powers... -
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Perfect by Cecelia Ahern
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsCelestine North is Flawed.Ever since Judge Crevan declared her the number one threat to the public, she has been a ghost, on the run with Carrick, the only person she can trust. But Celestine has a secret—one that could bring the entire Flawed system crumbling to the ground. A secret that has already caused countless people to go missing... -
Among the Free by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsENOUGH GAMES.Luke Garner is a third-born in a restrictive society that allows only two children per family. Risking his life, he came out of hiding to fight against the Population Police laws. Now, in the final volume of Margaret Peterson Haddix's suspenseful Shadow Children series, Luke inadvertently sets off a rebellion that results in the overthrow of the government... -
Alone by Megan E. Freeman
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen twelve-year-old Maddie hatches a scheme for a secret sleepover with her two best friends, she ends up waking up to a nightmare. She’s alone—left behind in a town that has been mysteriously evacuated and abandoned.With no one to rely on, no power, and no working phone lines or internet access, Maddie slowly learns to survive on her own... -
The Overlord Protocol by Mark Walden
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsHOW FAR WILL OTTO GO TO PROTECT HIS FRIENDS? Otto Malpense and his friends thought their first year at the Higher Institute of Villainous Education was the most adventurous and exciting that they would ever encounter. They were dead wrong...Categorized as:
children family realistic suspense action-adventure anti-hero audiobook boarding-school -
Among the Enemy by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsHIDE OR FIGHT?Matthias, an illegal third child, is caught in the cross fire between rebels and the Population Police. When he unwittingly saves a Population Police officer, Matthias is brought to Population Police headquarters to train as an officer himself. There he meets Nina, another third-born who enlists his help in a plot to undermine the Population Police... -
Last Light by Terri Blackstock
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the face of a crisis that sweeps an entire high-tech planet back to the age before electricity, Deni Branning's career ambitions have vanished. She's not about to let her dream of marriage go as well.But keeping it alive will require extraordinary measures. Yesterday's world is gone. All Deni and her family have left is each other and their neighbors... -
Among the Brave by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA Reluctant HeroTrey may have saved Luke's life, but he still thinks of himself as a coward who can barely stand to be outdoors. Now Trey finds out Luke has been taken prisoner at Population Police headquarters. Trey is terrified, but he knows that if he doesn't rescue his friend, no one will.At police headquarters, Trey impersonates an officer to try getting to Luke... -
Among the Impostors by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsLuke Garner is terrified.Out of hiding for the first time in his life, he knows that any minute one of his new classmates at Hendricks School for Boys could discover his secret: that he's a third child passing as the recently deceased Lee Grant... -
The Other Side of Dawn by John Marsden
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsSince their home was invaded by enemy soldiers and transformed into a war zone, Ellie and her friends have been fighting for their lives. Now a resolution may finally be in sight. But as enemy forces close in on her hideout, Ellie discovers that the final conflict just may be the most dangerous yet. And not everyone will survive... -
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsFranny Stone has always been the kind of woman who is able to love but unable to stay. Leaving behind everything but her research gear, she arrives in Greenland with a singular purpose: to follow the last Arctic terns in the world on what might be their final migration to Antarctica... -
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Burning Nation by Trent Reedy
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn this wrenching sequel to DIVIDED WE FALL, Danny and friends fight to defend Idaho against a Federal takeover and the ravages of a BURNING NATION.At the end of DIVIDED WE FALL, Danny Wright's beloved Idaho had been invaded by the federal government, their electricity shut off, their rights suspended. Danny goes into hiding with his friends in order to remain free...Categorized as:
high-school realistic survival suspense action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book -
Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSHORTLISTED FOR THE BLUE PETER BOOK AWARD 2015LONGLISTED FOR THE BRANFORD BOASE AWARD 2015SHORTLISTED FOR THE REDBRIDGE AWARD 2015RUNNER UP TEACH PRIMARY NEW CHILDREN'S FICTION AWARD 2015BOOKTRUST PICKWhen they first arrived, they came quietly and stealthily as if they tip-toed into the world when we were all looking the other way. Ade loves living at the top of a tower block... -
Middle Ground by Katie Kacvinsky, Katie Ray
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsFor four weeks Maddie has been living in Los Angeles, trying to be good. But no matter how hard she tries, something inside her won't be sated. She can't live a life of half-truths and false pretenses. So one night, she says how she really feels.That's all it takes. One night... -
Kalahari by Jessica Khoury
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsDeep in the Kalahari Desert, a Corpus lab protects a dangerous secret…But what happens when that secret takes on a life of its own? When an educational safari goes wrong, five teens find themselves stranded in the Kalahari Desert without a guide... -
Among the Barons by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsLuke Garner, an illegal third child, spent his first twelve years in hiding. For the past four months Luke has lived among others, using the identity of Lee Grant, at the Hendricks School for Boys. But just as things are finally starting to go right, Lee's little brother Smits arrives at the school and Luke finds himself caught in a tangle of lies that gets more complex with every passing day... -
Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsSo my only protection is a kindergarten teacher and a ninety-eight-pound female minister....And they don't even believe I'm in danger. As Bethany approaches her thirteenth birthday, her parents begin acting more oddly than usual: Her mother cries constantly, and her father barely lets Bethany out of his sight... -
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 101 ratingsIn Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives... -
Burning For Revenge by John Marsden
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsThe action doesn't let up in the most explosive Tomorrow book yet -- another international bestseller from John Marsden. The journey to Stratton isn't an easy trip, especially when the enemy's headquarters lie somewhere along the way. And that's exactly where Ellie and her friends unwittingly find themselves... -
The Program by Suzanne Young
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsIn Sloane’s world, true feelings are forbidden, teen suicide is an epidemic, and the only solution is The Program.Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive... -
The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau, Amélie Hesnard
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsKeep your friends close and your enemies closer. Isn't that what they say? But how close is too close when they may be one and the same?The Seven Stages War left much of the planet a charred wasteland. The future belongs to the next generation's chosen few who must rebuild it... -
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The Night Is for Hunting by John Marsden
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsIn the penultimate installment of the internationally bestselling Tomorrow series, Ellie and her friends look after a gang of orphans whose wild behavior reveals the true impact of war.Amidst a brutal war with no end in sight, Ellie and her four remaining friends discover that their hidden refuge becomes a crowded place when they decide to care for an uncooperative crew of orphans... -
The Dead of Night by John Marsden
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsA few months after the first fighter jets landed in their own backyard, Ellie and her five terrified but defiant friends struggle to survive amid a baffling conflict. Their families are unreachable; the mountains are now their home. When two of them fall behind enemy lines, Ellie knows what must happen next: a rescue mission...Categorized as:
drama high-school realistic survival suspense 20th-century action-adventure apocalyptic -
Double Cross by Beth McMullen, Kelsey Navarro
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsShannon Hale’s Princess Academy meets Stu Gibbs’s Spy School series in the third book in the Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls series.Abby and her classmates have all been invited to Briar Academy to participate in The Challenge, a prep school competition where teams compete for prizes and the glory of being the best of the best...Categorized as:
children family realistic action-adventure audiobook book children-books contemporary -
After the Lights Go Out by Lili Wilkinson
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhat happens when the lights go off after what might truly be an end-of-the-world event? How do you stay alive? Who do you trust? How much do you have to sacrifice?'After the Lights Go Out is a terrifying yet hope-filled story of disaster, deceit, love, sacrifice and survival... -
Among the Betrayed by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratings"Everything that had happened to Nina was real. She had real handcuffs on her wrists, real scars on her back, real fear flooding her mind. "'They're going to kill me,' Nina whispered, and it was almost a relief to finally, finally give up hope...Categorized as:
children drama family realistic survival suspense action-adventure alternate-history -
Dry by Neal Shusterman, Jarrod Shusterman
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsWhen the California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, one teen is forced to make life and death decisions for her family in this harrowing story of survival,The drought—or the Tap-Out, as everyone calls it—has been going on for a while now. Everyone’s lives have become an endless list of don’ts: don’t water the lawn, don’t fill up your pool, don’t take long showers... -
Mission Unstoppable by Dan Gutman
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsThe most exciting road trip in history begins! In this action-packed, New York Times bestselling adventure, twelve-year-old twins Coke and Pepsi McDonald embark on a family vacation you'll have to read to believe... -
Freefall by Jacqueline Harvey
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBack at Alexandria with their friend Curtis Pepper visiting, Kensy and Max are enjoying the school break... -
Out of Sight by Jacqueline Harvey
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsKensy and Max are gearing up for their first Pharos review, a rite of passage with no room for failure. But juggling studies and the spy life isn't without its complications. As the dust settles from their last mission, and family members find their place in the new world order, old tensions rise to the surface. There's also the school play to prepare for - in rather different ways for each twin... -
Undercover by Jacqueline Harvey
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsKensy and Max are back in London for no time at all before things begin to heat up - quite literally. As a result, Granny Cordelia ships them off to Australia on an undercover mission. The twins find themselves planted in a posh Sydney school where first appearances prove to be deceiving. What seems like a straightforward assignment turns into something so much bigger... -
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Darkness, Be My Friend by John Marsden
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsThe battle continues as five ordinary kids must journey back into the heart of an epic conflict.Five months into World War III, Ellie and her four remaining friends have barely escaped the Australian town of Wirrawee with their lives and their sanity intact.But as the next step becomes clear, they realize they must once again sacrifice their hard-won comfort and safety... -
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 91 ratingsThere are alternate cover editions for this ASIN here and here.If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human. When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone. Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade. Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze... -
Slated by Teri Terry
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsA riveting psychological thrillerKYLA HAS BEEN SLATED - her memory erased, her personality wiped blank. This is the government's way of dealing with teen terrorists: give them a fresh start as a new person. They teach Kyla how to walk and talk again, give her a new identity and a new family, and tell her to be grateful for this second chance... -
Ungifted by Gordon Korman
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsThe word gifted has never been applied to a kid like Donovan Curtis. It's usually more like Don't try this at home. So when the troublemaker pulls a major prank at his middle school, he thinks he's finally gone too far... -
One Door Away from Heaven by Dean Koontz
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsMichelina Bellsong is on a mission. She is following a missing family to the edge of America...to a place she never knew existed--a place of terror, wonder, and shattering revelation.What awaits her there will change her life and the life of everyone she knows--if she can find the key to survival... -
Erased by Jennifer Rush
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsThey thought they had escaped. They were wrong.After fleeing the Branch with Sam, Cas, and Nick, Anna is learning how to survive in hiding, following Sam's rules:Don't draw attention to yourself.Always carry a weapon.Know your surroundings.Watch your back.When memories from Anna's old life begin to resurface—and a figure from her childhood reappears—Anna's loyalties are tested...
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