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.
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.
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.
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.
Arthur C Clarke’s *Rendevous 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.
Tripods
Anything by Andre Norton, especially her Solar queen novels.
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
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.
"A Wrinkle in Time is a science fantasy novel by American writer Madeleine L’Engle, first published in 1963. "
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.
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.
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.
Nobody recommends Jules Verne?
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.)
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.
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.
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).
How about some steampunk? Philip Reeve is good, both the Mortal Engines/Predator Cities and Larklight series.
China Miéville’s 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 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 and Strata. Also lets one get one’s Niven on without actually having to explain rishathra to a 12y.o…
Patrick Ness’s 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.
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(trilogy)
Fireball, and its sequels
The Lotus Caves
Empty World
I also liked books by Robert Westall
The Machine Gunners
The Wind Eye
The Watch House
The Devil on the Road
The Scarecrows
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, that’s SF too.