…I’ll add David Brin’s Glory Season. It’s set in a largely pre-technological civilization, so there’s a minimum of “science” and a maximum of “fiction.” It’s a sociological study, mostly, and (in my opinion at least) one of Brin’s best. Shows he can do a lot more than spaceships and black holes and genetics and stuff.
You may want to check out some books by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. He is more famous for his fantasy novels, but I like his sci-fi books as well.
See if you can find The Parafaith War or Adiamante . I liked both of those books.
He also has a series called The Ecolitan Matter . This is 4 books but another may be out soon.
I’m not sure how I would describe his books. Lots of high-tech gadgets and stuff but also a lot of political intrigue as well.
Not the best stuff I’ve read but some very enjoyable books.
I’m gonna mini-hijack my own thread here and say that, having just finished Manifold: Time, I found it interesting that my first two science fiction books in a while (Childhood’s End was the other)
both concerned the ultimate destiny of humankind and also contained scary, super-smart children.
Based on your spoiler, it sounds like you should queue up Greg Bear’s Darwin’s Radio and Darwin’s Children just to keep the theme going. 
I have to put in a BIG plug for Heinlein’s juveniles, especially for someone who is new to SF and looking for easy reads.
In order:
Citizen of the Galaxy
Have Space Suit - Will Travel
Starman Jones
Tunnel in the Sky
Time for the Stars
The Star Beast
The Rolling Stones
Between Planets
Red Planet
Ignore the ‘pulpy’ titles, and the ‘juvenile’ categorization - these were more about marketing and literary standards in the 1950’s than a reflection of the content. Every one of the books above is an enjoyable read, and the first six on that list are tremendous books.
And these are the essential Heinlein books that are not classified as ‘juveniles’:
Double Star
Starship Troopers
The Door Into Summer
If you’re looking for a ‘fun’ series of books, I would recommend The Stainless Steel Rat books, and the Repairman Jack stories by F. Paul Wilson, although the last books are more horror than SF.