YA books similar in style to Michael Crichton?

[Mike]

Michael Crichton is one of my favorite authors of all time. Currently, I'm on an endeavor to be the only dad on the block that's up-to-date on all the top YA books. Are there any YA authors that have a similar style or voice to Crichton? Or maybe stories that seem to be in the same vein?

[Sarah]

Wow, I'm curious to see if you get some good answers on this. I read a lot of YA, but nothing is coming to mind. So much is fantasy or dystopian. I'll keep a lookout and maybe dig through my books. Good luck.

[Sarah]

Try Gone by Michael Grant, Dualed by Elsie Chapman, The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken, Partials by Dan Wells. I'm checking with friends for other ideas. These are as close as I can get.

[Sarah]

I asked some friends and got the suggestions of Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson and the Alex Rider series (I think the first one is called Stormbound).

One issue that came up is that you're never really going to find something that directly compares to Crichton. Young Adult is a genre in and of itself, and the books themselves read completely different. So, if you want Crichton, stick with Crichton. If you're willing to roll with a completely different style, there's an absolute ton of great stuff out there. I'm glad I found them. Good luck to you.

[Nicole]

I also love Michael Crichton! And I have read a number of YA books, and sadly, I haven't found any that comes close to his style. And I don't think any YA book would be comparable to Crichton, based on what's out there right now. Crichton is just too different from the YA books in the market.

I am interested though, in finding other authors who write like Michael Crichton outside the YA sphere. So far, I only found Diane Ackerman, but I haven't read her novels yet, only her poems.