Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Science Fiction for Middle School Age?

John Wyndham's the Chrysalids, the Day of the Triffids, Village of the Damned. Especially the Chrysalids, which I read at 13 (had to wait until my English --as a second language-- was good enough to read regular books) and then again at 43. I still like its post-apocalyptic cliche, sort of like chicken soup for the geek...

In fact, one of his books (that I unfortunately picked up in the library as an adolescent, having liked his Xanth books) features a four-year-old girl who likes to have (explicit) sex with adults, and also a very explicit scene of necrophilia. I have stayed away from him ever since.

Hey, I just joined, so I just found this thread. If I may offer a recommendation, check out former publishing agent-turned-middle school novelist Nathan Bransford's "Jacob Wonderbar." It's the first in a proposed series and so far, has been getting some great reviews.

He has a (very entartaining) blog and forum for aspiring writers as well. I lurk there a lot but haven't yet gotten up the gumption to post much anything. Haven't read the book but if it's anything like Bransford's funny surfer-dude personality on his website, it's guaranteed to garner quite a few grins maybe for the adults too

More comic sci-fi (if he's into that) include Terry Pratchett's Discworld series and of course, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Not exactly young-adult/middle-grade per se, but classics both, and high-ranking favorites of the high-school-aged Internet crowd.

Good luck with your search and... don't panic.

Sorry if this has been suggested already, but ran across "City" again the other day, by Clifford D. Simak, and it is quite thought provoking. A blast from the past. (From my phone)

Yeah, I tried to direct my dd13 toward his Xanth series when she was about 10. She was done reading HP and LOTR and wanted something else in the general sci-fi genre. She honed in on the Incarnations of Immortality series and, while I admit that it has a good story line to start, I was concerned about the two pieces I recalled from the first book: a suicide and the baby who was a child of incest. I did let her read them after discussing my concerns but she decided that they contained things she didn't want to read herself as she got further into the series.

eta: This isn't exactly sci-fi, but dd13 did move a bit from that genre after her Piers Anthony experiment. She really enjoyed some of Michael Crichton's books such as Jurrasic Park and the Andromeda Strain. I think that she was a bit older when she read those, though (about 12).

Why wouldn't you consider Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain to be science fiction?

My DS11 who likes science fiction and fantasy recently enjoyed:

Animal Farm
Lord of the Flies
Ender's Game (I got him the first 3 books in the series for Christmas. ETA: I justed noted that one poster thought the 2nd and 3rd were maybe not appropriate. I don't know, not having read them myself . . . DS11 did mention the third one Xenocide as being weird)
The Hunger Games (there are 3 or 4 books in the series)
The Old Man and the Sea (obviously not at all sci fi, but I was surprised how much he liked it)
The Henderson boys and the Cherub series by Robert Muchamore

Someone mentioned Podkayne of Mars above in this thread. My older D was kind of traumatized by that book because Podkayne (main character) does not survive. I had forgotten this (loved that book as a teen), so just something to be aware of.

Another good book is "Lotus Caves" by John Christopher. I think it may be out of print, but it is so easy to find used copies of books in great shape on the internet that I thought I would mention it.

(By the way, does anyone else find that they can't see any dates for posts on threads out here? I have NO idea how old the original thread is...).

IDK, I guess that I considered Jurassic Park at least to be something like a thriller/action type of genre although I'm not sure if that is a legitimate book genre. I can see the sci-fi arguement holding water, though, too.

Someone above mentioned the Hunger Games. Both of my girls liked the first two books in that series quite a bit but were disappointed with the third, and final, book. There is a Hunger Games movie coming out as well I understand.

The third book of the Hunger Games series is quite dark. I personally (as an adult) was so dismayed by the ending of the third book that I won't go see the movies. My kids are teens, so no issues with them reading them, but I might think twice before giving them to a tween because of that third book.