The local high school is considering redoing their selections for their 9th grade Sci Fi unit and I’m privileged enough to be able to provide suggestions. Currently they have a choice of Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E Pearson, Scythe by Neil Shusterman, and Unwound also by Shusterman.
It doesn’t have to be explicitly YA, but definitely YA accessible, and preferably something that will keep a 9th grader interested and isn’t just a fluffy book but challenges thinking/perceptions like good Sci Fi can. My goal is something near 300-ish pages but if it’s a faster read more is ok.
TiA
You must log in or register to comment.
I kind of want to suggest Children of Time and the other Adrian Tchaikovsky books in that series. He’s very good at writing non-human intelligences and it stays relatively hard sci fi throughout the series. I just am not sure how much they would appeal to teens, I certainly would have liked them but I was very bookish. I really like the exploration of emergent cultures and technologies and the books all have a hopeful and optimistic turn to them.
Also seconding Andy Weir books, and Murderbot by Martha Wells.
“ …just am not sure how much they would appeal to teens, I certainly would have liked them but I was very bookish.”
That’s part of the challenge too. It’s hard enough to get some of these kids to read a book, let alone a hard Sci Fi book that is now a required reading. It almost has to fool them into enjoying it first.
Haha yeah. So I think Murderbot and The Martian/Project Hail Mary would be solid choices, because they’re cinematic and entertaining. They have humor and a lot of action. Murderbot hides the vegetables well and brings up a capitalist dystopia, personhood, gender identity and the meaning of freedom in subtle and clever ways. I’d be surprised if a teenager who read All Systems Red didn’t ask for the sequel pretty soon after 😋
Anne McCaffrey was a favorite author of mine when I was a young teen. Some of her stuff is fantasy meets sci-fi, like the Dragon Riders of Pern series. The Crystal Singer was the only book I read of the crystal series, but it’s definitely young adult sci-fi. I’m dating myself, but I read it when Eiffel65 had released Europop, and I can’t help but think of that book whenever I hear one of those songs lol.
In Conquest Born by C. S. Friedman is my favorite book from my older teen years, it’s very political but also has complex descriptions of the technology in universe. She’s also won awards for her Coldfire trilogy, which I enjoyed but is definitely fantasy and not sci-fi
Definitely check out Skyward and all the related books from Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson! I’m a big Sanderson fan, but I like Skyward especially, for it’s surprising depth, and unique setting
I’d recommend Childhood’s End by Arthur C Clarke. I first read it at that age and its been my favourite sci fi short read ever since.
I was thinking of the same book. It’s certainly appropriate for younger readers and should hold their interest.
The Martian, or Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.
Sanderson has some good scifi, including a YA series starting with Skyward.
Most of the original Robot books from Asimov. 2001 series from Clarke.
What about solar punk novels? I know there is some really good ones, though I haven’t had a chance to delve into them much.
Genres: ‘Hopeful climate fiction’ ‘Hopepunk’
Solar punk is great, I was thinking of the monk and robot books, but ultimately leaned away from it.
I’m not familiar with those, do you have a link? What caused you to change your mind?
They are A Psalm for the Wild Built and A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers
Don’t get me wrong, they are fantastic and have great meditations on purpose and other topics. But my concern was the ages of the readers. For 12th graders, no question, but for freshmen, I thought it wouldn’t be gripping enough early enough.
I would highly recommend the Bobiverse series. A fairly grounded sci-fi series that explores the idea of von numan probes (uploading people’s consciousnesses into machines that travel between stars and can self replicate).
The series is quite clean, but still explores deep and more mature topics such as: if you clone an AI consciousness, is it still you?
I think, while it’s relatively clean as far as sex or violence goes, there’s some problematic elements that speak to the author’s “old fashionedness”. For one, the author seems to think that being possessive of a romantic partner to the point of violence is a heroic trait. On multiple occasions otherwise sympathetic characters clench their teeth or their fists at or even attack other male characters that show interest in their female partners. There’s also a a kind of conspicuous lack of queer characters. He does have a Bob finally identify as a “Bobby”, but it takes hundreds of generations and they’re used to illustrate just how much the iterations are drifting from the original, not to mention that they never actually show up in the books (yet). Every Bob is heterosexual. I don’t recall any gay or queer characters ever being mentioned in any of the books.
There’s also a suspicious undercurrent of genetic determinism. On multiple occasions characters are encountered with a very heavy implication that they are just born better and smarter and superior to their peers, and I find that kind of thought smells off to me. It reminds me too much of eugenics and people who believe in a master race or that certain classes are born to rule others.
They are fun reads and certainly enjoyable. As far as having teens read them, I would be concerned that they would absorb everything without being critical enough of the content. I think there are better, more inclusive choices that are more modern in their attitudes and cast of characters.
Maybe something by Eoin Colfer? I havent read his stuff in a decade and a half so maybe it is for too young an audience but I loved Artemis Fowl books and his other works too. If some language and violence isnt a deal breaker, why not the expanse series by James SA Corey? Pretty good light-hard-sci-fi if that makes sense
Love the Expanse but it’d be a hard sell to the teacher considering how much violence and sex is in there. It’s not excessive for a book for adults but for YA? Torture, abuse, some of the intimacy scenes are more descriptive… again, love the series but I wouldn’t give it to a bunch of 14 year olds as required reading.
Since there are a good number of great novellas out right now, I also considered 2-3 novellas can equal one novel depending on length.
Books I considered:
- Murderbot 1&2 by Becky Chambers
- Binti 1-3 by Nnedi Okorafor
- Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
- Kindred by Octavia Butler
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
- Left hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin
I left them out of my comment, because I thought it might be too adult, but I think Christopher Paolini’s Fractalverse is about the same level as Long Way, so I’m going to recommend that as well! Pretty standard scifi plot (though I haven’t finished it yet, so maybe it gets shaken up in later books), but with some really interesting elements of transhumanism, like AR bio-implants, and giant genetically engineered brains for piloting FTL ships
Check murderbot 1 & 2 for language. Consider adding The Giver, 1984, Fahrenheit 451. They are classics for a reason.
I vote no on Orson Scott Card.
I still think Ender’s Game is still a solid read for kids getting into Sci Fi, but the author in more modern times not so much.
Part of the goal is to freshen the list and he was on the old list, I just provided it as background as to what they were currently offering
Nightfall, by Isaac Asimov?
