Itch: the Explosive Adventures of an Element Hunter by Simon Mayo  

Solid science adds heft to Itch, a present-day sci-fi novel with elements of an international spy thriller.

Itch: the Explosive Adventures of an Element Hunter, by Simon Mayo.  Splinter, 2013, 410 pages.

Reading Level: Teens, Ages 11-15

Recommended For: Ages 11-15

Itchingham “Itch” Lofte, age 14, has a hobby with unfortunate side effects—not just for himself, but for chums and schoolmates alike.  In his neighborhood and along the beaches of Cornwall, England, he collects elements, aiming to one day box every item in the periodic table (which appears on the endpapers).  He needs to research their qualities, though– otherwise he might not have left the arsenic in his backpack when his class took a field trip to the greenhouse, where moisture created a poison mist that made everybody sick.  That was bad enough, but when a fellow element enthusiast sells him a rock that turns out to have very curious qualities, Itch is catapulted into an international scramble for the rock.  Has he, in fact, happened upon a previously-unknown element?

This genre might be called scientific fiction, or perhaps fictional science—real-world, present-day science with a “what if?” attached.  Solid nuggets of fact are folded not-too-obtrusively into a standard thriller plot with serviceable if not outstanding characters and more vomiting in a single volume than I’ve ever seen.  (Radiation poisoning will do that.)  There are some interesting sidelines on the environment, especially nuclear power—more popular in Europe than here.  Also, Itch has to do some soul-searching when he doesn’t live up to his own standards: “He had always assumed he was the sort who would own up to parents, teachers, or the police if he had done something wrong . . . but everything now seemed less clear.”  There’s some mild language, but Itch’s father displays genuine Christian faith and readers who like facts will love this.

Considerations:

• Language:

Overall Rating: 3.75 out of 5

• Worldview/Moral Rating: 4 out of 5
• Literary/Artistic Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Read more about our ratings here.

Related Reading From Redeemed Reader

• A Review: Disappearing Spoon, a young readers guide to chemistry
• A Review: Speaking of radiation poisoning, check out Radium Girls
• A Review: The Elements, a guide to, well, the elements!

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