# Please recommend good sci-fi books for a 12 year old **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 23, 2015, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387 "2015-11-23T21:48:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/21 "2015-11-24T01:12:46Z")
I started Heinlein’s juveniles when I was around 12, but I wonder if these would be way too dated for a modern 12 yo. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/22 "2015-11-24T01:14:37Z")
Depending on the kid, James SA Corey’s Expanse series, starting with **Leviathan Wakes** , is spectacular, and may not be too much. They’re hefty as hell and may be intimidating if he’s not already a committed geek. As for Hunger Games, it’s only not good SF if you care a lot more about the S than the F. They’re very strong books, IMO, that use science fiction trappings in the service of the story, instead of stuff like most of Asimov, where there are fiction trappings in the service of the science. I far prefer Collins’s approach. That series would be a great recommendation, and not too tough if he’s a good reader–a few years ago I had a third grader wander into class on the first day midway through the first book. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/23 "2015-11-24T01:17:39Z")
So, this thread inspired me to do a bit of googling (“Surely,” I said to myself, “people have compiled lists like this somewhere on the internet”). The following lists look pretty good (and repeat some of this thread’s suggestions), though some of the books on Brin’s list may be a bit too advanced for the average twelve-year-old, while the “for kids” list includes some that aim too young. > **[25 Best Science Fiction Books for Kids - The Best Sci Fi Books](http://best-sci-fi-books.com/25-best-science-fiction-books-for-kids/)** > > There's nothing quite like corrupting the innocent minds of kids, and science fiction is best gateway storytelling out there. Yes, better than fantasy. > **[Science Fiction for Young Adults: A Recommended List](https://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2011/11/science-fiction-for-young-adults.html)** > > A blog about science, technology, science fiction, books, and the future. > **[Where To Start With Young Adult Science Fiction](https://gizmodo.com/where-to-start-with-young-adult-science-fiction-5384382)** > > Where's the best place to start your kids with reading Science Fiction? Here's a booklist of some of the best Sci-Fi for the discerning young adult, because it's never too early to teach them about the dangers of dystopian societies. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/24 "2015-11-24T01:24:25Z")
I loved the Danny Dunn books as a kid, but they’re aimed at rather a younger audience than 12. Plus, yeah, at least some of them would be horribly dated by now. My science fiction recommendations: Anything at all by Asimov. Some of his works are denser than others, but he never really goes inappropriate. Any of Heinlein’s juveniles, plus Citizen of the Galaxy, Tunnel in the Sky, Podkayne of Mars, and Orphans of the Sky, which aren’t officially juveniles but might as well be. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle. That’s the book that inspired me to study relativity. Also the sequel, A Wind in the Door (but it goes downhill from there). And if we’re including fantasy: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and the rest of the Chronicles of Narnia. The Book of Three, and the rest of the Chronicles of Prydain. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Harry Potter Over Sea, Under Stone, by Susan Cooper (though I’m less impressed by the rest of the series) And I haven’t read them myself, but I’ve heard the Percy Jackson books are good. EDIT: Oh, yeah, Discworld! None of them would be really inappropriate for a middle-schooler, but there are a few that are specifically considered young adult. ---
**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/25 "2015-11-24T01:27:00Z")
Arthur C Clarke’s \*[Rendevous with Rama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendezvous_with_Rama) \*certainly grabbed my attention big-time right around 12-yrs old or so. Might give that a try, too. It is the only book/thing that ever got me sent to ‘the Office’ because I kept sneakily reading it, even with multiple warnings from various teachers during one too many classes - worth it, of course. And I read a lot, just not during class-time - usually anyways, except for this _one_ book that got me hooked on sci-fi overall. I consider it a ‘classic’ myself, IMHO, and kinda surprised its not been mentioned yet… There were a number of follow-ups to this book, but none as good (IMO) as the first encounter with Rama. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/26 "2015-11-24T01:28:19Z")
Tripods > **[Tripods Trilogy (The White Mountains / The City of Gold and Lead / The Pool of...](https://www.amazon.com/Tripods-Trilogy-John-Christopher/dp/0020425716)** > > Tripods Trilogy (The White Mountains / The City of Gold and Lead / The Pool of Fire) \[Christopher, John\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Tripods Trilogy (The White Mountains / The City of Gold and Lead / The Pool of Fire) Anything by Andre Norton, especially her Solar queen novels. > **[Andre Norton Super Pack (11) (Positronic Super Pack): Norton, Andre:...](https://www.amazon.com/Andre-Norton-Super-Pack/dp/1515403122)** > > Andre Norton Super Pack (11) (Positronic Super Pack) \[Norton, Andre\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Andre Norton Super Pack (11) (Positronic Super Pack) Zenna Henderson’s _The People_ books. (buy used) [http://www.amazon.com/Ingathering-Complete-People-Stories-Henderson/dp/0915368587/ref=sr\_1\_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1448328544&sr=1-1&keywords=zenna+henderson](http://www.amazon.com/Ingathering-Complete-People-Stories-Henderson/dp/0915368587/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1448328544&sr=1-1&keywords=zenna+henderson) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/27 "2015-11-24T01:57:47Z")
Maybe a couple of volumes of Larry Niven’s Known Space short stories or even _Ringworld_. _Ringworld_ shouldn’t be too much for a 12 year old kid. I don’t recommend _Dune_. I tried it at 12 and I think some of it went over my head. ---
**Author:** ![McGuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@McGuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McGuffy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/28 "2015-11-24T02:27:23Z")
"A Wrinkle in Time is a [science fantasy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fantasy) novel by American writer [Madeleine L’Engle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_L%27Engle), first published in 1963. " ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/29 "2015-11-24T02:40:49Z")
Heh–reading these lists, one would think no science fiction had been written in the last half century. I suspect that’s because posters here (many in their forties, fifties, or older) are remembering what **they** liked when **they** were twelve. Which is fine, but remember that prose styles and fiction styles change slowly, but they do change, and if you’re recommending something written before 1970 or so, it’s going to be noticeably dated. Okay, some comments on some of the books from external lists: **Whales on Stilts** : this is a hifreakinlarious sendup of GollyGeeWhiz Boy Wonder science fiction of the 1950s, very cleverly written. I read this (and its sequels) to my five-year-old daughter over the last year; she shrieked with laughter, and there were parts that I could barely read for laughing so hard. They have a lot to recommend them to an adult reader as well. **Parable of the Sower** : Octavia Butler is so damn good. I prefer **Wild Seed** , think it’s her best, but not everyone agrees. **Railsea** : it’s not my favorite book by Mieville, but it’s far more accessible than a lot of his stuff. While nowhere near as weird as, say, **The Scar** , with its probabilistic swordfights and mosquito-women, it’s plenty weird enough. John Scalzi’s work: Ooh, this is **great** stuff. I’d definitely recommend **Old Man’s War**. Despite the title, it should be great for a smart tween. Scalzi’s weakness as a writer might be that his characters are all pretty much the same character–but that means the characters are a bit of a cipher, just smart smartasses who smart their way through problems, which is generally fun to read. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/30 "2015-11-24T03:09:29Z")
Ringworld is a terrible place to start with Niven. It’s smack in the middle of Known Space with very few explanations for the novice. The short story collections, sure, but not Ringworld. The Draco Tavern anthology might be a good choice as well, or even some of the Man-Kzin Wars shared universe books. Wanting to get just a single book is tough. What might be an interesting choice is one of a few time-travel books. Connie Willis won both the Hugo and Nebula with _The Doomsday Book_ and the Hugo again with _To Say Nothing of the Dog_. (I believe she says in the introduction of _To Say Nothing of the Dog_ that her introduction–and probably many readers, me included–to Jerome K. Jerome’s _Three Men in a Boat_ was Heinlein’s _Have Space Suit–Will Travel_.) Also in the time travel vein is Julian May’s _The Many-Coloured Land_, set in the Pliocene. It’s out of print (as is the rest of the series), unless the kid has a Kindle, but easy to find online. Otherwise I’d probably go with Bradbury’s _The Martian Chronicles_. ---
**Author:** ![Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambrosio_Spinola)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/31 "2015-11-24T03:51:28Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Heh–reading these lists, one would think no science fiction had been written in the last half century. I suspect that’s because posters here (many in their forties, fifties, or older) are remembering what **they** liked when **they** were twelve. Which is fine, but remember that prose styles and fiction styles change slowly, but they do change, and if you’re recommending something written before 1970 or so, it’s going to be noticeably dated. This is a fair cop - although I spent most of my teens reading SF that was written twenty or thirty years before I was born. I can say that my niece really seemed to enjoy some Nancy Farmer, specifically _The House of the Scorpion_, and also some of Neil Gaiman’s stuff like _Coraline_ and _The Graveyard Book_ might do well. Maybe even David Wong’s _This Book is Full of Spiders_ for a more mature 12 year old. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/32 "2015-11-24T05:00:08Z")
Nobody recommends Jules Verne? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/33 "2015-11-24T05:14:52Z")
One of the reasons we’re recommending old stuff is that it has withstood the test of time, and become a “classical canon.” It’s stuff that we all know, and can agree is worthwhile. There’s plenty of really good contemporary stuff…but it hasn’t yet been vetted by history. (Not that history is at all fair. Some really great material goes totally unknown today. Blame the free market.) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/34 "2015-11-24T05:19:38Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Nobody recommends Jules Verne? Not even you? Okay: it needs doing. Jules Verne! Good, solid, fun stuff, very dated, but very “scientific” in its outlook. Verne believed in extrapolating from real science, but abhorred “making stuff up.” He disagreed with H.G. Wells on this, disliking Wells’ inventive approach (Cavorite, the Time Machine, the New Accelerator, and so on.) “Paris in the Twentieth Century” is a masterpiece of “futurism.” Verne tried to look ahead, and it is astonishing how much he got right. (Ah…but it is a very depressing book, nevertheless, and might not be appropriate for a younger reader.) How about a “compare and contrast” assignment: read Verne’s “In Search of the Castaways” and then watch the Disney movie. See how much the movie got right…and how much is didn’t. Right fine book, and, with some allowance for its dates, a jolly fun movie. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/35 "2015-11-24T06:32:18Z")
A twelve-year-old Star Wars fan, huh. Well, a friend of mine was into Lensman books and the Battletech mythos, but I never read them. > [@Trinopus](#): > > That’s a good age for Bradbury. > > And it’s a really good age for Asimov’s “I, Robot.” Highest possible recommendation: the Robot stories are brilliant, thoughtful, fun, kid-friendly (no sex and almost no violence) and written in a simple and direct style (unlike my own) that is amenable to younger readers. I think this is a good call. Lots of robots, stuff in space. Not “space opera,” but accessible SF. Go for some short story anthologies? There’s a lot of early Asimov that would be reasonably appropriate for a twelve-year-old. Maybe even some Robert Sheckley, or maybe I was just a weird kid. (Then again, giving a pre-teen Sheckley might get you accused of unsavory intentions, depending on the parents. I vaguely remember one story that could be an endorsement of hallucinogenics.) I feel bound to endorse moderately thinky SF like Bilenkin’s _The Uncertainty Principle_, if you can find it. I wonder if that’s more high-school level or not (and I have no idea what translations of his stuff are even in print). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/36 "2015-11-24T09:41:11Z")
How about some steampunk? Philip Reeve is good, both the [Mortal Engines/Predator Cities](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predator_Cities) and [Larklight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larklight) series. China Miéville’s [Railsea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railsea) was enjoyable Melville pastiche as well as a good YA entry in the Dying Earth genre. (lots of his adult fans didn’t get it, though) [The Edge Chronicles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Edge_Chronicles) is fantasy, not science fiction, but highly enjoyable nonetheless. Also, _great_ illustrations. Terry Pratchett’s early Sci Fi books are great - [Dark Side Of The Sun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Side_of_the_Sun) and [Strata](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strata_(novel)). Also lets one get one’s Niven on without actually having to explain _rishathra_ to a 12y.o… ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/37 "2015-11-24T10:15:01Z")
Patrick Ness’s **[Chaos Walking](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_Walking)** trilogy is excellent: **The Knife of Never Letting Go** starts with a young boy dealing with an unexpected event in his village; **Monsters of Men** ends with interplanetary contact and multi-factional interspecies warfare. Along the way the two protagonists have to learn some hard lessons about power, trust, weakness, failure, forgiveness, justice, love (in both its edifying and poisonous varieties), war, peace, and above all redemption. It can get pretty grim as various characters either let you down or reveal that they’re even more vile than you thought they were, but it’s never less than gripping and the central relationship is strong enough to offer some hope for humanity despite everything. It’s never preachy, but it’s depiction of a misogynistic, power-obsessed society is both realistic and offputting and the underlying sci-fi mechanism provides a strong argument for listening being a better mode than broadcasting. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/38 "2015-11-24T10:45:30Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Not just John Christopher’s [Tripod](http://www.amazon.com/Tripods-Collection-White-Mountains-City/dp/1481415050/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1448317188&sr=1-1&keywords=john+christopher) series, but also everything else he wrote. Well, not quite everything. Some of his books are aimed at young children. Some are aimed at adults. He’s probably too old for _Wild Jack_, and too young for _No Blade of Grass_ and _Wrinkle In The Skin_. But Iagree with Tripods, and also: [Sword Of The Spirits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_of_the_Spirits)(trilogy) [Fireball](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireball_%28novel%29), and its sequels [The Lotus Caves](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lotus_Caves) [Empty World](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empty_World) I also liked books by Robert Westall [The Machine Gunners](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine_Gunners) The Wind Eye The Watch House The Devil on the Road The Scarecrows ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/39 "2015-11-24T10:47:08Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Terry Pratchett’s early Sci Fi books are great For a certain value of great. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387/40 "2015-11-24T11:36:17Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > For a certain value of great. _De gustibus_. I actually vastly prefer them to the works they are pastiches of, because I like Pratchett’s humanism. Oh, and I forgot about the [Bromeliad Trilogy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nome_Trilogy), that’s SF too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-sci-fi-books-for-a-12-year-old/738387.md?page=3)