Itch (ITCH, 1)

Product Information

A couple of days ago I had no idea this series existed. I only found out about it when I saw Itchcraft by Simon Mayo on NetGalley recently, requested a review copy as it sounded interesting, and upon being accepted, realised that it was, in fact, the third book in the series. Amid the teenage intrigue and heart-in-mouth escapades there are sequin flashes of real science: reminders that physical chemistry really does make things happen Tim Radford, Guardian Simon Mayo's debut novel is one of the best adventures for middle schoolers I have read in years with an original premise and non-stop action that will have the reader on the edge of his seat. Strong female characters will appeal to girls as well. For ages 10-14 but overlaps into the young adult group. As for the chemistry included, it's well measured, clear and undeniably fascinating; from learning how the household objects you own relate to the periodic table, to explanations of explosive reactions, there is enough here to justify Itch as an informative text without ever suffocating the exciting plot. I recently wrote a piece arguing that the Pokémon games successfully communicate biological principles to their target audience, and I think it's fair to say that Itch does the same for Chemistry. Being a science geek I love the idea of collecting all the elements, my mum not so much, especially the radioactive ones!

The story begins with a "bang" (literally) when one of our young hero's science experiments (with phosphorus) blows up part of his parents' house -- and also burns off his eyebrows. But this is just our introduction to Itch's most recent obsession.Itch is an engaging young adult Fiction, mystery about a boy's peculiar passion to collect all the elements of the periodic table, his friendship with his sister and cousin, and the adventures they have as a result. Mayo writes with skill and dexterity and seems to have an innate understanding of pace and plot development. He balances a broad range of characters and does a strong line in baddies without resorting to clumsy stereotypes. Itch exhibits an amazing level of maturity and moral courage, instantly elevating his status from science geek to reluctant hero. It's worth noting that ITCH is clearly the result of a man driven by a passion for his story, rather than a desire to be published. It's a genuinely thrilling and original adventure, with added sciency geek-chic . . . a great read and certainly worthy of its ISBN Helen Mulley, Teach Primary The writing is generally engaging, but the plot is uneven. After an explosive beginning the story generally maintains its momentum until the final five chapters, which were somewhat boring, predictable, and ponderous -- skillful editing could have reduced these to two or perhaps three tight and gripping chapters.

Itch is about a boy named Itchingham Lofte. I really loved this book. At the beginning it was still interesting but wait till later, you have NO IDEA. At the beginning Itch reveals to the readers that he is an element hunter - or in other words he collects the elements - Most of them he is able to find in his house or around it. Near the beginning we also hear that Itch has a little bit of an accident with some phosphorus and blows off his eyebrows. Whilst the novel stands on its own without the need for comparisons it is an interesting exercise to compare it with The Philosopher’s Stone, and for me it holds up pretty well. Rowling has the edge on inventiveness and pure fantasy, but Mayo has some great material up his sleeve, and some of it is very dark material indeed. He has also left sufficient loose ends and unresolved plot strands to ensure an incendiary sequel, which he is already writing. The names in this book mystified me, too. Itch's parents' names -- Jon and Zoe Jude and Nicholas -- are ordinary enough, as are the names for his older brother (Gabriel) and younger sister (Chloe) but ... Itchingham? Seriously, where did that come from? That name definitely stands out from all the other character names in this book. Further, kids are typically quite happy to share the origin and inspiration for their names, particularly when their name is unusual, but no such revelation is forthcoming regarding Itch's singular name.What follows are a number of madcap adventures, including late night theft, radiation poisoning, flooded mine shafts, hospitals and vomiting ... lots of vomiting. Ever since he could remember, Itch had been a collector. He developed his collecting skills with Pokémon cards, coins, maps, marbles and frogs ( frogs?), but when this book begins, Itch has turned his attention to collecting the elements of the Periodic Table: The villains ... well. I could have made do without them being quite so... villainish. In a really exaggerated way. The only thing missing was moustache-twirling, although I'm sure that if Flowerdew had a moustache, he would have twirled it at some point. Also, and this was my biggest suspension of disbelief gripe, I found it really hard to believe that the people transferring a very dangerous criminal to another prison would just let him go if a woman with a gun shows up and threatens to shoot at them. Uh. This initially started life as a short story to amuse Mayo’s youngest son before spiralling into a 94,000 word novel. However you wouldn’t know that this was his first foray into fiction as it’s a truly assured debut.

He finds out that his class is required to go into the greenhouse and advised to bring water since it is so hot. Once they get in they are walking through it when the first person throws up, not because it is hot, but because it is also damp in the greenhouse and so the wallpaper is reacting. They all start to throw up and everyone is ushered out of the greenhouse. It is later concluded it was poisoning, however most of the characters in the book don’t find out it was Itch until MUCH later. Whilst his target audience is undeniably the young teen market the plot is sufficiently dark to provide an equal appeal to older audiences. Ultimately it’s a story about great responsibility (hold on…that sounds like a tag-line for the new Avengers movie!). There was, he thought, no point in collecting anything else; this was everything else. It was the catalogue of everything that existed in the universe, stripped down to its 118 basic ingredients. If Itch was honest, part of him was relieved that most people just left him to get on with it. How boring to be the same as everyone else. Did the world need another football fan? He didn't think so. [p. 11]

Edition:

I review a lot of children's literature on my blog so I know a good book when I read one. Itch is one of the best action adventure books I have read in years and will appeal to adults as well as young adults and middle schoolers. My original review as it appears on my blog, Boys to Books: Itchingham "Itch" Lofte didn't mean to burn off his eyebrows. He also didn't mean to send his whole science class to the hospital with arsenic poisoning. When you take up a dangerous hobby like collecting elements from the periodic table, those things are inevitable. Chemistry is widely considered as one of the most difficult subjects to make exciting, but Simon Mayo, radio presenter of the BBC's Drivetime and Kermode and Mayo's Film Review, seems to have discovered the perfect formula for doing so: (explosions x noxious materials) ÷ sinister global corporations. And, utilising this winning equation, Mayo has penned his debut novel, Itch; the story of fourteen year old Itchingham Lofte who, whilst attempting to collect every element in the periodic table, comes into possession of a curious new element with world-changing potential. So I sighed and went and bought a copy of the first one. (I should also say right away that I'll be buying the second one, too, and reading it.) And ... yeah, really glad that I did.