Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Any avid readers?

Good suggestion, Austin. Neal Stephenson is DH's current favorite author.

I really like his works. His Baroque Cycle has several hidden messages encoded in the text. His writing is often hilarious!

Some of his circumstantial history and historical figure characterization is wrong so the sketches must be taken with a grain of salt. OTOH he gets many, many things right. ( I feel sorry for the parent whose pre-school child searches maps for Qwghlm as I once looked for "New England" )

His "The Diamond Age" is very accessible for kids due to Nell and the Mouse Army. If they can read "A Wrinkle in Time," then TDA will be a good next step.

Another good book is "The Mote in God's Eye" by Niven and Pournelle.

Life of Pi is my newest favorite. The main character is a child (16yo) but deals with incredible challenges. It's reminds me of an imaginative cross between Robinson Crusoe, Moby Dick and Lord of the Flies.

I was just thinking about that. Thanks. There are a couple of sections in the each of the Baroque Cycle books as well.

Maybe some nonfiction, like The Cuckoo's Egg. A hacker breaks into a top-secret computer, and the hero tracks him down. It's been years since I've read it. I don't rememeber anything inappropriate, but you might want to read it first just in case.

I thought of another:

The Seems - it is a very clever SciFi.

Twelve-year-old Becker Drane has definitely got the coolest job of any seventh grader in Highland Park, New Jersey. He works as a Fixer for The Seems. From the Department of Weather to the Department of Sleep, The Seems is a secret organization that makes sure our world keeps running�and more importantly, sticks to The Plan that�s been made for it. But The Plan, and The Seems for that matter, would be nothing without the people in it, and that�s where Becker Drane comes in. When a Glitch is reported in the Department of Sleep, Becker is dispatched to Fix it, but he�s not so sure this is a routine mission. Could the Bed Bugs, who are behind our Worst Nightmares, be responsible for the problems? Or maybe it�s The Tide, an underground organization bent on destroying The Seems? No matter what, Becker�s in for quite an adventure, and it�ll take all his training, a little luck, and the coolest Tools� known in (or out of) the Seems to Fix the problem.