# Sci Fi Readers: Make me a pre-teen collection **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 23, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233 "2004-11-23T03:57:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Agonist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@Agonist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agonist)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/1 "2004-11-23T03:57:23Z")
I have a friend who is a middle school librarian, and she realized recently that her sci fi collection is pretty pitiful. Since she knows I’m a Sci Fi/Fantasy fan, she asked me to go to the bookstore with her and beef it up. I failed pretty miserably. I never really realized it before, but my favorites are all fantasy. So I thought I would ask all the clever Dopers at Cafe Society: What science fiction books must an eleven-to-thirteen year old not miss? Oh, and one rule: no sex. (In the books that is - I’m all for it IRL.) She says she can justify anything else to the PTA - violence, drugs, “witchcraft” - but sex is to remain off screen unless it is Very Important to the story. So whadaya say? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/2 "2004-11-23T04:23:06Z")
**Asimov** - _The Stars Like Dust_, _The Foundation Trilogy_, _I, Robot_, _The Caves of Steel_, _The Naked Sun_, etc., etc. Great starters for younger readers, and the Good Doctor never sullied his prose with anything as sordid as sex. He saved that for conversations! 😃 **Heinlein** - All the Juveniles - _Have Spacesuit, Will Travel, The Green Hills of Earth, Farmer In The Sky, The Star Beast, The Rolling Stones, Citizen of The Galaxy, Tunnel In The Sky,_ etc. ---
**Author:** ![MaryEFoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MaryEFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryEFoo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/3 "2004-11-23T04:24:30Z")
Selected Heinlein juveniles. “Children of the Atom” by (Wilmar T?) Shiras. L. Sprague de Camp, Isaac Asimov, James Schmitz’ “Witches of Karres”. Fritz Leiber. Ursula LeGuin, Earthsea books (but that is fantasy mostly). …boyyyyy am I out of date. Partly it’s because anything written before 1960 is OK by the rules stated, and offhand I can’t be sure recent material has the required level of purity. Some of these are a bit of a stretch for middle school, but y’know I started reading the stuff in fifth grade, and it didn’t matter, it held the attention. If the two named books above are available, definitely get them. ---
**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 23, 2004, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/4 "2004-11-23T05:31:47Z")
> [@](#): > > Great starters for younger readers, and the Good Doctor never sullied his prose with anything as sordid as sex. He saved that for conversations! While it’s correct that there’s no sex in any of the books you mentioned, in _The Robots of Dawn_, the next book after _The Naked Sun_, there is one sex scene. You also didn’t mention _The Currents of Space_ (which hinges on some astrophysical speculation which has since been proven wrong… But it’s a reasonable speculation) or my personal favorite, _Pebble in the Sky_. You might also add the _Lucky Starr_ series: Again, they’re somewhat outdated, but in the newer editions, Asimov says in a prefix what’s outdated about them, and a bit about how he would have written them differently. And I’ll second a lump-sum recommendation for any and all Heinlein juveniles. My personal favorite is _Space Cadet_, but there’s a lot of difference of opinion on which is best. In any event, though, none of his juveniles are bad. Of Heinlein’s other books, _Orphans of the Sky_ contains no sex, and probably should be considered a juvie, but generally isn’t; _Citizen of the Galaxy_ likewise, though there is mention (without description) of pornography. _The Door into Summer_ contains no sex, but two of the major supporting characters are nudists, which may not fly with the PTA. Despite what you might think from the unrelated movie by the same name, there’s also no sex in _Starship Troopers_, and I’m pretty sure there’s none in _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ (though there is some discussion of it, and marital structures which would be considered very nonstandard here and now). But those last two would probably be a bit of a chore for all but the most motivated preteens. Anything else Heinlein wrote, you’re going to get some sex. Also, this is bordering on fantasy, but every school library absolutely must have Le’Engle’s _A Wrinkle in Time_ and _A Wind in the Door_. _A Swiftly Tilting Planet_, _Many Waters_, and other books by her are optional, but those two are required. ---
**Author:** ![passengerpigeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58f4c7/32.png) [@passengerpigeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/passengerpigeon)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/5 "2004-11-23T06:54:02Z")
I absolutely must recommend _Norby the Mixed-Up Robot_ and the further Norby books, by Isaac and Janet Asimov. As a pre-teen and early teen, I found this series really enjoyable and fun. –p ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/6 "2004-11-23T07:03:37Z")
The Heinlein juveniles may be a little too sophisticated for pre-teens. They’re generally aimed at 12-16 year olds. For example, _Have Space Suit - Will Travel_ has extensive ruminations on calculating the distance and time to Pluto using acceleration formulas - to a kid who hasn’t even mastered multiplication and doesn’t know what Algebra is, that’s not likely to be very interesting. Lots of long passages about the engineering of space suits and such which would also make a small child’s eyes glaze over. You might consider the Danny Dunn series - they’re aimed at slightly younger readers. Asimov wrote a children’s book called “Norby, the Mixed-up Robot”. I haven’t read it, but from the title it sounds like it might be aimed at youngsters. Robert Silverberg wrote a juvenile called “Revolt on Alpha Centauri C” which I read as a kid in a Scholastic edition. It was a fun kid’s book. But while this isn’t science fiction, I highly, highly recommend [The Mad Scientist’s Club](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1930900104/qid=1101193981/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-5975043-7693746?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Bertrand R. Brinley. Suitable for pre-teens, it’s a great book that I must have read 50 times as a young boy. Cool kids in a club making other kids and adults look foolish because they use science and their heads to solve problems while everyone else muddles along. It’s a collection of short stories, very easy to read. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/7 "2004-11-23T07:18:13Z")
Enders Game by Orson Scott Card. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/8 "2004-11-23T07:24:43Z")
The Crysalids by John Wyndham. It’s probably okay for bright 11-13 year olds. i know I read it in Elementry school. ---
**Author:** ![Primaflora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Primaflora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Primaflora)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/9 "2004-11-23T07:33:01Z")
Andre Norton. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/10 "2004-11-23T07:47:00Z")
> [@Agonist](#): > > I have a friend who is a middle school librarian, and she realized recently that her sci fi collection is pretty pitiful. Since she knows I’m a Sci Fi/Fantasy fan, she asked me to go to the bookstore with her and beef it up. > > I failed pretty miserably. I never really realized it before, but my favorites are all fantasy. So I thought I would ask all the clever Dopers at Cafe Society: What science fiction books must an eleven-to-thirteen year old not miss? > > Oh, and one rule: no sex. (In the books that is - I’m all for it IRL.) She says she can justify anything else to the PTA - violence, drugs, “witchcraft” - but sex is to remain off screen unless it is Very Important to the story. > > So whadaya say? Andre Norton 'nuff said! ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/11 "2004-11-23T11:29:24Z")
Bellweather, by Connie Willis The Warrior’s Apprentice, and most of her other Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold. Though some will be pushing the ‘no sex’ rule Plus, a seconding of the Heinlein Juvies, Asimov’s earlier fiction, and Andre Norton. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/12 "2004-11-23T11:53:06Z")
A strong second for Enders Game. Great book. Asimov wrote a ton of short stories that are great. My favorite story is “Breeds there a Man?”. And, no, there isn’t any sex in it. I’d get some of his short story collections. You might also want to think about some Arthur C Clark. Slee ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/13 "2004-11-23T13:01:11Z")
_The Sterkarm Handshake_ by Susan Price. Excellent sci-fi for early adolescents. Cool time travel stuff. Very much agree about _The Mad Scientist’s Club._ I still have my copy, it’s about 30 years old, but the story seems timeless. _The Lemonade Trick_ by Scott Corbett is in the same vein as Mad Scientists. Agree about Connie Willis’ _Bellweather_, enjoy her other work too but it is tricky figuring out which would work for teens. Ditto Heinlein. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/14 "2004-11-23T13:07:56Z")
William Sleator. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/15 "2004-11-23T13:11:47Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > The Heinlein juveniles may be a little too sophisticated for pre-teens. They’re generally aimed at 12-16 year olds. For example, _Have Space Suit - Will Travel_ has extensive ruminations on calculating the distance and time to Pluto using acceleration formulas - to a kid who hasn’t even mastered multiplication and doesn’t know what Algebra is, that’s not likely to be very interesting. Lots of long passages about the engineering of space suits and such which would also make a small child’s eyes glaze over. You’d be surprised. WhyKid started Algebra last year - in fifth grade, at age 10. They’re teaching this stuff way earlier than when we were kids. And he’s in the “slow” group. Although I prefer the originals, kids like the Silverman/Asimov novelizations, especially _The Positronic Man_. WhyKid, who just starting reading for pleasure this year, zipped through that one (and came to me in tears at the end, for a great conversation about death) and ripped apart \*I, Robot \* for being unfaithful to Asimov’s world view when we saw it in theaters. Also, some of the Asimov compilations are good: _Gold_, in particular I like, as it contains some of his best short stories, some essays on the SF genre, and finally writing on science fiction writing itself. It was a great history written by someone who actually lived and created it. Short stories are sometimes easier to get kids into, since so much of what they’re used to reading is short. There’s another Asimov anthology whose name escapes me at the moment, but it was fantastic - it had a collection of short stories and a collection of non-fiction essays. I probably wouldn’t have read his non-fiction if it hadn’t been nicely packaged with his fiction. Turns out his writing is just as easy to follow when he’s explaining complicated stuff. One of the essays finally got it through my thick skull why the earth weighs nothing and the difference between weight and mass. Anyone remember the title of the anthology? ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/16 "2004-11-23T13:26:04Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > There’s another Asimov anthology whose name escapes me at the moment, but it was fantastic - it had a collection of short stories and a collection of non-fiction essays. I probably wouldn’t have read his non-fiction if it hadn’t been nicely packaged with his fiction. Turns out his writing is just as easy to follow when he’s explaining complicated stuff. One of the essays finally got it through my thick skull why the earth weighs nothing and the difference between weight and mass. Anyone remember the title of the anthology? You may be thinking of the collection [Gold](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060556528/qid=1101216854/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002-9541382-7565601?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) which contains stories and essays (don’t remember if they’re science essays). You may also be thinking of one of his opus books, marking his hundredth, two hundredth book etc. . .(Opus 100, Opus 200 . . .) These contained a selection of stories and essays. ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/17 "2004-11-23T13:27:18Z")
WhyNot, I see upon second reading that you already mentioned Gold. I need to work on my reading comprehension skills, I think. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/18 "2004-11-23T13:39:40Z")
[Comes back from the bookshelf, a bit dusty and sneezing] > [@LateComer](#): > > WhyNot, I see upon second reading that you already mentioned Gold. I need to work on my reading comprehension skills, I think. That’s OK, you’re a LateComer! 😉 Here it is! [_The Edge of Tomorrow_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0812521323/qid=1101217285/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-7900454-6423040?v=glance&s=books). It contains “Nightfall,” “Breeds There a Man,” “The Ugly Little Boy” and “The Last Question,” among others, as well as essays on science such as " The Bridge of the Gods" (Rainbows and prisms), “The Plane Truth,” (Non-Euclidean Geometry), and “The Man Who Massed the Earth,” (which I mentioned above.) ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/19 "2004-11-23T13:43:00Z")
I’ll third Norton and add that it’s her early stuff that’s SF, most of her later output is fantasy though she had continued the Solar Queen series. But if you can get your hands on Sargasso of Space, The Last Patrol, Daybreak: 2250 A.D., Judgement on Janus, Galactic Derelict, etc., you’ll be doing OK. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233/20 "2004-11-23T15:52:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Of Heinlein’s other books, _Orphans of the Sky_ contains no sex, and probably should be considered a juvie, but generally isn’t; _Citizen of the Galaxy_ likewise, though there is mention (without description) of pornography. Are you speaking of the “lurid pin-up pictures” the People used as trade goods on Finster? Remember that when this book was published, “pin-ups” would have been those painted by Vargas and his contemporaries. Not pornography, not even the Playboy centerfold. Just slightly racy depictions of the female form, more or less clothed – and, by the way, sexy as hell. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-readers-make-me-a-pre-teen-collection/276233.md?page=2)