Another give-me-book-rec post!

[cahn]

I feel that I ought to know the answer to this, but it is easier to ask you because I know you will have good solutions!

E. needs to read a science-fiction book that is appropriate for her age (12/6th grade/middle grade). If she were two years older I'd give her Ender's Game or Becky Chambers, but she's not. She says she likes fantasy better than SF but I suspect this is at least partially because she hasn't really read much SF, most of the stuff I know about being aimed a little above her head (she's read Dragon Pearl and liked it but is using it for another category). I'd considered giving her a Heinlein juvenile but I think she should probably be just a little older for that too. I also gave her The Martian to look at, which she rejected on account of it being too long :) (If it's something that I think will suit her interests enough, I'll give it to her anyway even if it's long, but Martian was already pushing things a bit -- I'll give it to her in a year or two and I think it'll work better for her then.)

(If there are sentient animals or puzzles to solve that would be a plus, but not required. Another reason she likes fantasy better is because there are more sentient animals, I think.)

Comments

[mildred_of_midgard]

Einstein's Dreams, Pern, Zenna Henderson? May be too old and/or not sci-fi enough to please the teacher, but that's what came to mind when skimming my sci-fi/fantasy Kindle collection.

[rachelmanija]

Okay, I know later books are full of problematic elements, but I bet she'd love Dragonsong and it stands on its own.

[luzula]

Ha, that's just what I was going to say. I mean, sentient animals.

[seekingferret]

This is not responsive to your main question as it's not SFF, but my Mystery Hunt teammate Eric Berlin's Winston Breen series is fantastic for full-of-puzzles stories for roughly that age. Eric also has a subscription service called PuzzleSnacks with puzzles that are pitched to be fun for adults but approachable for children starting around age 10 or 11.

[mildred_of_midgard]

I love how we ALL went "Pern!"

[lightgetsin]

Oh, that's easy, Space Evacuees. Bonus for the talking robot fish. It is a bit scary/grim in the background, but if you were okay with Andy Weir stuff, I imagine it would land okay.

[mildred_of_midgard]

Does The Giver count as sci-fi?

[nineveh_uk]

Fourth'ed!

Or Nicholas Fisk, if he holds up for current readers.

[cenozoicsynapsid]

This isn't exactly my area--- I think I started reading science fiction in the adult section and moved backwards. Asimov's "I Robot" was one of my early favorites, and it's still a great collection of puzzle stories, but with an extra helping of weird 50s social attitudes that I'm not sure E wants to read past. (I grew into appreciating the character and emotional dimensions of fiction as I got older, but as a 6th-grader, I think, I wanted setting and worldbuilding more.)

Brandon Sanderson's "Skyward" immediately comes to mind. Teenage pilot, pet slug and artificially intelligent fighter plane start out on a space colony surrounded by aliens who keep trying to bomb them. There's a lot of Top Gun-style flight-sim action, but as the plot unrolls, she also learns more about the origins of the conflict and the possibility of peace. The second book has a ship piloted by super-cute monarchist gerbils.

Scott Westerfeld's "Leviathan" trilogy is a possibility? Steampunk World War I: the British and their living airships versus the Germans and their mechanical walkers), but way fluffier than the real war. Spunky teenage couple (heterosexual, if it matters) on opposite sides fall in love as they work together to save Europe.

I am not a huge fan of Heinlein juveniles. John Scalzi does a bunch of books that are basically "Heinlein for people who wish he weren't a crusty conservative", and unsurprisingly, since the originals weren't my cup of tea, I'm not really here for the remakes either, but perhaps other people have ideas about whether they'd be appropriate?

[sophia_sol]

my fave scifi for that age is The True Meaning of Smekday. it's just so very good!

if animal companions are a draw, then The Wild Robot might appeal, it's very charming. and there's a sequel to if the first book is enjoyed.

[rushthatspeaks]

Bruce Coville! Both of his SF series are aimed at kids of exactly that age and reading level, and both are utterly delightful, with lots of interesting aliens, realistic kid dynamics, and a gentle humanism that means I will never stop coming back to him.

[elsane]

Hellspark by Janet Kagan could be very good! It's SF, and its alien-language mystery would appeal to animal-lovers. (I recognize there is a certain amount of uh in recommending a book with Hell right there in the title for 12 year olds, but I remember this book as feeling quite -- friendly for kids? while being fun and absorbing) Kagan's Mirabile might also be fun - ecological mystery short stories on an alien world.

[thistleingrey]

I'm of no help because I read Ender's Game in sixth grade and several Heinlein juvies in fourth.

Oh wait. Ray Bradbury short story collections? R Is for Rocket was assigned reading in sixth grade, and other people liked it too.

(K)

[(Anonymous)]

D is only reading SF that B gives her, which is to say Becky Chambers and Scalzi's Zoe's Tale (which is the one book in Old Man's War with a teenage girl as narrator). She's also read some Cory Doctorow -- Little Brother and For the Win. These tend to push her patience, but she does like them. I think all of these have some sex, but at a level that we're comfortable with. (B has been reading the Lady Astronaut books and says that the sex in those is adult enough that he's not going to push them on D, even though she would probably like other aspects of the books. If she sought them out, we'd let her read them, but we'd probably discuss them with her.) She's a militant enough feminist that she doesn't give the time of day to golden age SF. Eventually I will try to reason with her about The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, but I'll survive if she never reads The Rolling Stones or Have Spacesuit, Will Travel. I might give her Panshin's Rite of Passage at some point.

[allmyfansquees]

If she enjoyed Dragon Pearl, the sequel ("Tiger Honor") came out this January so it might be an easy sell? It seems to be a direct follow-on, with a new PoV character - Min and her friends play major roles.

[hamsterwoman]

YES! I was just about to recommend The True Meaning of Smekday! (I read it as an adult and thoroughly enjoyed it; L read it at 9, according to my journal tags, and also really liked it.)

This is the book the animated movie Home was vaguely based on, but the book is SO much better!

William Sleator wrote a bunch of juvenile sci-fi that I remember enjoying as a kid (Interstellar Pig, and I feel like I read a bunch more, but don't recall any of the other titles), but no idea how well these books have aged since the 70s...

[antisoppist]

We read John Wyndham's Chocky at school at that age. But it's adult pov about a child so not technically designed for that age group. The Chrysalids has teen protagonists but might not be SF enough?

[morbane]

I say as someone who also loves Dragonsong - I feel like the very way it stands on its own makes it read far more fantasy than sci-fi? Yes, it's in a far-future space world, but in Song and Singer those elements are very far in the background.

(As a gateway to other sci-fi reading, maybe? But first it would be a gateway to more McCaffrey, and there's a reason we're reccing Dragonsong as opposed to certain others.)

[morbane]

What age range do other people think the Darkangel Trilogy might be appropriate for? As something that straddles science fiction and fantasy.

Other things that come to mind:

Diane Duane's Young Wizards series, although it's not until book 3 that it really establishes its sci-fi footing. (There are some sentient animals.)

Gillian Rubenstein's Galax-Arena, about gymnastically gifted children kidnapped to perform in an alien arena. (No puzzles or sentient animals.)

Jane Yolen's Pit Dragon series? It's been a while since I read them so would probably suggest someone else's confirming opinion on age-appropriateness. However: definite sci-fi, gives good dragon, and I think the first book stands on its own?

[morbane]

Also this is a tangent and it isn't sci-fi enough for your rec, but Tanith Lee's Unicorn trilogy is wonderful. The titular unicorns are more themes/quests than characters, but the main character's animal sidekick is a delight. Possibly something else for E's fantasy pile?

[skygiants]

Diana Wynne Jones' Archer's Goon straddles the fantasy/sff line in an interesting way that could be fun for her (the town is full of wizards, but they're building a spaceship)!

[zdenka]

+1 on Ray Bradbury. It was assigned reading for my 7th grade class and I loved it.

[mildred_of_midgard]

Same! (With the disclaimer that I haven't read it in so long I have no idea how it holds up.)

(K)

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, um, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? D had to read it for lit club at school and wasn't impressed, but it certainly is cultural literacy.

[cahn]

hm! I think Einstein's Dreams might be too old for her, and I'm a little dubious about Pern (although I agree she'd really like Dragonsong!) but Zenna Henderson sounds... really very doable. Thanks!