Man, diving into the first Michael Vey book after seeing it on a middle school shelf takes me back. It's about this kid, Michael, who finds out he has electric powers. The basic setup is he's been getting zapped his whole life, and it turns out he's part of a group of kids with similar abilities, all born around the same time. The story kicks off when the school bully, a guy named Jack, tries to mess with Michael's friend, Ostin, and Michael accidentally fries him with a shock. That gets the attention of this shadowy organization called the Elgen.
They're the ones who run the 'Cell 25' from the title—it's a special isolation cell in their facility. The Elgen, led by this creep Dr. Hatch, want to use these electric kids for their own plans. They kidnap Michael's mom to force him to come to them. A lot of the book is Michael and his friends, including a girl named Taylor who can 'reboot' people's brains, trying to rescue her and figure out what the Elgen really want.
There's a whole sequence where Michael gets captured and thrown into Cell 25, which is designed to break people with sensory deprivation. The ending sets up the series conflict, with Michael escaping and vowing to take down the Elgen and free the other kids. It's a pretty straightforward YA sci-fi thriller, but I remember the pacing being relentless, just one thing after another. The electric powers are a fun gimmick, and the friendship dynamics are the heart of it, even if some of the villains feel a bit mustache-twirling.