# Remind me of some good teen SF/fantasy books from my childhood **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 18, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655 "2011-12-18T18:38:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CastleAnthrax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@CastleAnthrax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastleAnthrax)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/1 "2011-12-18T18:38:28Z")
My sons are 9 and 13 and I’d like to buy them some of the books I liked at their age. I was an absolutely voracious reader, but I can’t seem to recall much of what I read. Narnia, which they’ve had. The Dark Is Rising I got to much later in life but they’ve had that too. Neverending Story, check. Ender’s Game, check. My husband suggested the Xanth books, so I just re-bought the first one. I remembered it being terribly sexist, so I decided to re-read it before I gave it away. Wow. It’s not the sexism I mind now, it’s the utter crap of the writing style. We’ve ordered Have Spacesuit, Will Travel and plan to go through the rest of the Heinlein juvies. Mildly sexist but at least the writing holds. Any other suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/2 "2011-12-18T18:54:59Z")
Go get them: [The House With The Clock In Its Walls](http://www.amazon.com/House-Clock-Walls-Lewis-Barnavelt/dp/0142402575/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324234457&sr=8-1) It’s a hit with everyone I’ve read it with. I’ve read it to 1,000 7th graders over the past few years and they all adore it. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/3 "2011-12-18T18:57:59Z")
There’s two other recent threads covering the SF/Fantasy and zombie/apocalypse categories, so I’ll just list general literature. [The Westing Game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Westing_Game) by Ellen Raskin [All Creatures Great and Small](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Herriot) by James Herriot (and sequels) [The Microbe Hunters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_de_Kruif#The_Microbe_Hunters) by Paul de Kruif. ETA: oh yeah, **Mahaloth** I remember that one too!!! Creepy! ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/4 "2011-12-18T19:02:14Z")
“Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’Engle > **[A Wrinkle in Time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Wrinkle_in_Time)** > > A Wrinkle in Time is a young adult science fantasy novel written by American author Madeleine L'Engle. First published in 1962, the book won the Newbery Medal, the Sequoyah Book Award, the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, and was runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.\[a\] The main characters – Meg Murry, Charles Wallace Murry, and Calvin O'Keefe – embark on a journey through space and time, from galaxy to galaxy, as they endeavor to rescue the Murrys' father and fight back The Black Thin The... ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/5 "2011-12-18T19:10:38Z")
D’OH! I just re-read the OP:smack: Sorry **HennaDancer**! As penance I’ll make myself useful and link to the other threads. > **[Good Young-Adult or Easy-Adult Post-Apocalyptic/Zombie Books?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=635296)** > > I’m looking for good post-apocalyptic or zombie books for my teen daughters, who are reluctant readers. So far I’ve got The Stand, Z For Zachariah, and Rise Again. I think World War Z might be a little too disjointed to hold their attention at this... and > **[Fantasy Books for Boys](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=634736)** > > My nephew is 11 years old and has read all the Harry Potter books and all of Rick Riordan’s stuff. Not surprisingly, he likes Greek mythology. Any suggestions in a similar vein for a Xmas present? Thanks for any help as I have no idea about books for... ---
**Author:** ![CastleAnthrax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@CastleAnthrax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastleAnthrax)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/6 "2011-12-18T19:26:54Z")
Wrinkle in Time- good one and definitely on my list. They’ve read it. Also Earthsea. Mahaloth- thanks! You had me at Edward Gorey illustrations. i went and bought it. ---
**Author:** ![Bloodless\_Turnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@Bloodless\_Turnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bloodless_Turnip)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/7 "2011-12-18T19:36:33Z")
The Conan series wasn’t horrid. Most things by Ursula K. Le Guin. Asimov? The robot books were very good and not too involved like some of his others. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/8 "2011-12-18T19:40:49Z")
Alexander Lloyd’s Chronicles of Prydain, of course! I also loved the Alanna books by Tamora Pierce. She’s got a bunch of others now, but those are still my favorite. Some of the Pern books from Anne McCaffery are appropriate and interesting for kids. Some will bore them to tears. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/9 "2011-12-18T21:28:50Z")
Well, I don’t seem to recall your childhood so here are some of what I read in my youth: **Jules Verne:** Journey to the Center of the Earth From the Earth to the Moon Around the Moon Around the World in Eighty Days Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea **H.G. Wells:** The Time Machine The War Of The Worlds \*\*Edgar Rice Burroughs: \*\* Barsoom series Pellucidar series Venus series **Robert Heinlein:** Red Planet The Rolling Stones Farmer in the Sky Between Planets Time for the Stars Tunnel in the Sky Starman Jones The Star Beast **Isaac Asimov** Fantastic Voyage Rama Caves of Steel Robot novels **EE Doc Smith:** Lensman series \*\*Larry Niven: \*\* various known space short-stories **Douglas Adams:** Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/10 "2011-12-18T21:53:25Z")
Clarke’s _Tales from The White Hart_ was wicked fun when I was about your boys’ ages. I think I read _Rendezvous With Rama_ about the same time. I absolutely devoured and ingested Asimov’s anthologies at the time, especially all the _Hugo Winners_ books. By definition, it’s got dozens of the very best SF short stories ever written inside. Philip Josè Farmer’s _Riverworld_ books were great fun, and sparked quite an interest in biographies and history for me. Jack Chalker’s _Four Lords of the Diamond_ series kept me interested and entertained, as did his _And The Devil May Drag You Under_. But for me it was his Nathan Brazil/Well World books that really fascinated me. I have always been a voracious reader, and it was at about your oldest boy’s age that I was first getting into Ellison, Niven (& Pournelle), Bradbury, etc. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/11 "2011-12-18T22:49:12Z")
_The Hobbit_ and _The Lord of the Rings_, of course. _Watership Down_ I second Lloyd Alexander’s _Prydain_ Chronicles A look through the list of [Newbery Award recipients](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal#Newbery_recipients) might jog your memory [it did mine—reminded me of the Dr. Doolittle books and _Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH_], though the majority of them aren’t F/SF (and some of them may be too dated or juvenile for your 13-year-old). ---
**Author:** ![CastleAnthrax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@CastleAnthrax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastleAnthrax)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/12 "2011-12-18T23:04:23Z")
Yes, I forgot to list Prydain- mostly because I just bought it (again) for myself and I wasn’t thinking of getting another copy for them 🙂 I hadn’t considered the “classics”. Jules Verne and all that. I read mostly fantasy. I would have thought that they were a little young for those, and the Asimov and stuff. Maybe I just have parent disease and have trouble aging the kids in my mind past toddler status. Sigh. NIMH!!! Yes, definitely. They’d both love that. Thank you all for these excellent “reminders”! ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/13 "2011-12-18T23:06:00Z")
Tamora Pierce’s YA fantasies are fun. And even though they tend toward girl-power, my husband enjoyed them quite a bit. So far we’ve (hubby and I. I buy them for his Kindle and then read when he’s at work) only read some of her Tortall universe books. [The Song of the Lioness series](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Song_of_the_Lioness) [Trickster duet](http://tamorapierce.wikia.com/wiki/Trickster_Series) were fun and fast. My husband really enjoyed the first book of the Beka Cooper series as did I, but those got put aside while we read the Song of Fire and Ice series. ---
**Author:** ![CastleAnthrax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@CastleAnthrax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastleAnthrax)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/14 "2011-12-18T23:16:45Z")
Anything by Diana Wynne Jones, currently my second favorite author. Hard to find, though. Anything Jane Yolen. I’ll have to look into Tamora Pierce. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/15 "2011-12-18T23:20:03Z")
Does [The Phantom Tollbooth](http://www.amazon.com/Phantom-Tollbooth-Norton-Juster/dp/0394815009/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324250343&sr=8-1) count? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/16 "2011-12-18T23:32:50Z")
I have prepared a list of children’s fantasy series for my grandnephew, who just finished the Harry Potter books, so that he could know what to read next: Lewis Carroll – The Alice books Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Through the Looking Glass L. M. Boston – The Green Knowe series The Children of Green Knowe The Treasure of Green Knowe The River at Green Knowe A Stranger at Green Knowe An Enemy at Green Knowe The Stones of Green Knowe Lloyd Alexander – The Chronicles of Prydain The Book of Three The Black Cauldron The Castle of Llyr Taran Wanderer The High King The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain C. S. Lewis – The Chronicles of Narnia The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Prince Caspian The Voyage of the Dawn Treader The Silver Chair The Horse and His Boy The Magician’s Nephew The Last Battle John Bellairs and Brad Strickland – The Lewis Barnavelt series The House with a Clock in Its Walls The Figure in the Shadows The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring The Ghost in the Mirror The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder The Doom of the Haunted Opera The Specter from the Magician’s Museum The Beast under the Wizard’s Bridge The Tower at the End of the World The Whistle, the Grave, and the Ghost The House Where Nobody Lived The Sign of the Sinister Sorcerer Madeleine L’Engle – The Time Quartet A Wrinkle in Time A Wind in the Door A Swiftly Tilting Planet Many Waters L. Frank Baum – The Oz books The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz The Road to Oz The Emerald City of Oz The Patchwork Girl of Oz Tik-Tok of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz Rinkitink in Oz The Lost Princess of Oz The Tin Woodman of Oz The Magic of Oz Glinda of Oz Edith Nesbit – Psammead series Five Children and It The Phoenix and the Carpet The Story of the Amulet Edith Nesbit – House of Arden series The House of Arden Harding’s Luck Ursula K. Le Guin – The Earthsea books A Wizard of Earthsea The Tombs of Atuan The Farthest Shore Tehanu Tales from Earthsea The Other Wind Daniel Pinkwater – The Snarkout Boys books The Snarkout Boys and the Avacado of Death The Snarkout Boys and the Baconsburg Horror Daniel Pinkwater – The Ancient Epic series The Neddiad The Iggysey The Adventures of a Cat-Whiskered Girl Susan Cooper – The Dark Is Rising series Over Sea, Under Stone The Dark Is Rising Greenwitch The Grey King Silver on the Tree Diane Duane – The Young Wizard books So You Want to Be a Wizard Deep Wizardry High Wizardry A Wizard Abroad The Wizard’s Dilemma A Wizard Alone Wizard’s Holiday Wizards at War A Wizard of Mars Roald Dahl – The Charlie books Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator Joan Aiken – The Wolves of Willoughby Chase series The Whispering Mountain The Wolves of Willoughby Chase Black Hearts in Battersea Nightbirds on Nantucket The Stolen Lake Dangerous Games The Cuckoo Tree Dido and Pa Is Underground Cold Shoulder Road Midwinter Nightingale The Witch of Clatteringshaws Diane Wynne Jones – Chronicles of Chrestomanci Charmed Life The Magicians of Caprona Witch Week The Lives of Christopher Chant Mixed Magics Conrad’s Fate The Pinhoe Egg Diana Wynne Jones – The Castle series Howl’s Moving Castle Castle in the Air House of Many Ways Eoin Colfer – The Artemis Fowl series Artemis Fowl Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox Artemis Fowl: The Atlantic Complex Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian Jonathan Stroud – The Bartimaeus series The Amulet of Samarkand The Golem’s Eye Ptolemy’s Gate The Ring of Solomon Alan Garner – The Colin and Susan books The Weirdstone of Brisingamen The Moon of Gomrath George MacDonald – The Princess Irene books The Princess and the Goblin The Princess and Curdie Terry Pratchett – The Tiffany Aching books The Wee Free Men A Hat Full of Sky Wintersmith I Shall Wear Midnight Mary Norton – The Borrowers series The Borrowers The Borrowers Afield The Borrowers Afloat The Borrowers Aloft The Borrowers Avenged Carol Kendall – The Minnipin books The Gammage Cup The Whisper of Glocken Beatrix Potter – The 23 Tales The Tale of Peter Rabbit The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin The Tailor of Gloucester The Tale of Benjamin Bunny The Tale of Two Bad Mice The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit The Story of Miss Moppet The Tale of Tom Kitten The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or, The Roly-Poly Pudding The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies The Tale of Ginger and Pickles The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes The Tale of Mr. Tod The Tale of Pigling Bland Appley-Dapply’s Nursery Rhymes The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse Cecily Parsley’s Nursery Rhymes The Tale of Llittle Pig Robinson ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/17 "2011-12-19T00:12:25Z")
The early teen years are the proper time to read the Pern series and David Eddings, if you must. I enjoyed both back then. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/18 "2011-12-19T00:17:28Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I have prepared a list of children’s fantasy series for my grandnephew, who just finished the Harry Potter books, so that he could know what to read next: By the time he finishes that list, the kid should be eligible for social security. I’ll add the Doc Savage series, and maybe The Destroyer series–probably not strictly speaking sf/fantasy, but still fun. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/19 "2011-12-19T00:49:17Z")
That’s why I told him not to worry if it takes him a long time to read them. I haven’t even read them all yet. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655/20 "2011-12-19T14:43:17Z")
I second/third/fourth Asimov. Loved him, still do. Burrough’s Tarzan books, especially the early ones, also were great fantasy stories. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remind-me-of-some-good-teen-sf-fantasy-books-from-my-childhood/606655.md?page=2)