Jurassic Park (Michael Crichton)

Don't go expecting a kid-friendly book to go with the film - this far surpasses anything Spielburg came up with. The characters are more than simply dinosaur fodder and you genuinely feel for them trapped on the island (as opposed to the movie where you just want to see folks get eaten).
Also if you think some of the wrong people got killed in the movie then you should read this and you may be pleasantly surprised.

A cracking thriller that lost much of it's impact when transported to film. I do think Crichton gets a bit preachy occasionally in it though

Unlike last month's 2001, this book was written before the film was made, and, more importantly, independent of it. This means that the film is different and in many ways much better than what most people know of Jurassic Park.

Crichton has obviously done his research and it shows throughout this book. My dad, who is a biology teacher, has recommended this to pupils for it's excellent and believable genetics but don't let that put you off, this is no scientific tome... It's a cracking read.