This book has been on my bookshelf for quite sometime since my daughter won it in a competition when the author came to visit her in school. It is an excellent, funny read that will have you laughing out loud and gripped on the edge of your seat in equal measure.
"Shortlisted for the National Book Tokens Children’s Book of the Year 2012 A terrific action adventure packed-full of fascinating true science! Itch is making an unusual collection: when it is finished, it will include all the elements of the periodic table. But collecting elements is a risky business and having almost killed his classmates by releasing arsenic vapour into a biology lesson, Itch takes possession of a new piece of rock which may have even more dangerous consequences. Itch and his cousin have to keep one step ahead of some very serious enemies who will do everything they possibly can to get it.Simon Mayo says, "As soon as I came across the fact that a small number of people like to collect elements from the periodic table—they call themselves ‘element hunters’—I knew I had got my story... I wanted to make sure that everything in the book is technically accurate; even if this new element doesn’t actually exist, in theory it could."