Science Fiction Books for Middle Grade (4th-6th) and Young Adult Readers

How books were chosen.

	2010 Releases
Ages 12 and up	Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill, 340 pages “The sins of his father weigh heavily on Durango, an outcast teen mercenary who’s trying to eke out a living on Tomorrow’s gritty, trigger-happy Mars. Fortunately, he is armed with an AI implant, a crew of colorful misfits, and an unshakable sense of humor.” Back cover excerpt, HarperTeen, 2010
Ages 12 and up	Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card, 657 pages “Rigg is well trained at keeping secrets. Only his father knows the truth about Rigg’s strange talent for seeing the paths of people’s pasts. But when his father dies, Rigg is stunned to learn just how many secrets Father had kept from him – secrets about Rigg’s own past, his identity, and his destiny. And when Rigg discovers that he has the power not only to see the past, but also to change it, his future suddenly becomes anything but certain. Rigg’s birthright sets him on a path that leaves him caught between two factions, , one that wants him crowned and one that wants him dead. He will be forced to question everything he thinks he knows, choose who to trust, and push the limits of his talent … or forfeit control of his destiny.” Jacket cover excerpt, Simon Pulse, 2010

	2009 and earlier releases
Ages 12 and up	The Tomorrow Code by Brian Falkner, 347 pages “Tane and Rebecca aren’t sure what to make of it. A sequence of 1s and 0s, the message looks like nothing more than a random collection of alternating digits. Working to decode it, however, Tane and Rebecca discover that the message contains lottery numbers…lottery numbers that win the next random draw! Suddenly Tan and Rebecca are rich, but who sent the numbers? And why? More message follow and slowly it becomes clear-the messages are being sent back in time from Tan and Rebecca’s future. Something there has gone horribly wrong, and it’s up to them to prevent if from happening. As they follow the messages’ cryptic instructions, Tane and Rebecca begin to suspect the worst-that the very survival of the human race may be at stake.” Jacket cover excerpt, Random House, 2008
Ages 9 and up	Rebel Force Target (Star Wars) by Alex Wheeler, (Book 1 of the Rebel Force Series), 186 pages “The Death Star has been destroyed. But back at the Rebel base, the celebration is over. The Alliance has intercepted a coded transmission, indicating that the Empire is determined to discover which pilot was responsible for the destruction of the Death Star. New security protocol is in effect: The details of the Death Star mission are now top secret, and no one is to know that Luke fired the decisive shot. But that’s hardly the Alliance’s only problem. Almost all their finances were lost with the destruction of Alderaan-and they are out of money. Their last hope is to access the secret accounts on Muuilinst, the former home of the InterGalactic Banking Clan, and the financial heart of the galaxy. So Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca, and the droids head for Muuilinst. The Empire’s top assassin will be waiting for them.” Back cover excerpt, Scholastic, 2008  *If you haven’t seen the early Star Wars movies or read the books based on them, they are a good place to start before immersing yourself in the Star Wars fiction universe.
Ages 12 and up	The Comet’s Curse (book 1 of the Galahad series) Dom Testa, 230 pages When the tail of the comet Bhaktul flicks through Earth’s atmosphere, deadly particles are left in its wake. Suddenly, mankind is confronted with a virus that devastates the adult population. Only those under the age of eighteen seem to be immune. Desperate to save humanity, a renowned scientist proposes a bold plan: to create a ship that will carry a crew of 251 teenagers to a home in a distant solar system. Two years later, the Galahad and its crew-none over the age of sixteen-is launched. Two years of training have prepared the crew for the challenges of space travel. But soon after departing Earth, they discover that a saboteur is hiding on the Galahad! Faced with escalating acts of vandalism and terrorized by threatening messages, sixteen-year-old Triana Martell and her council soon realize that the stowaway will do anything to ensure that the Galahad never reaches its destination. The teen must find a way to neutralize their enemy. For if their mission fails, it will mean the end of the human race. Jacket cover excerpt, Tor 2005
Ages 9 and up	Shanghaied to the Moon by Michael J. Daley, 251 pages "Stewart Hale dreams of becoming a famous pilot like his mother and like his hero Val Thorsten, the greatest spacer who ever lived. But if he can’t get his father to approve his application for Space Academy by his thirteenth birthday, he’ll never get his chance. After his mother’s death, Stewart’s father has forbidden any talk of his going into space…A chance encounter with a washed-u[ old spacer gives Stewart an unexpected opportunity to sneak off on his own mission to the Moon. It’s just what he needs to get himself ready for the Academy…But when the old spacer’s intentions turn out to be less than honorable, and their ride to the Moon turns out to be a rickety old tub that’s more likely to get them killed then get them there, Stewart realized he hasn’t found his big break-he’s been shanghaied!” Jacket cover excerpt, Penguin Group, 2007
Ages 12 and up	Spacer and Rat by Margaret Bechard, 183 pages  “Jack has spent his whole life on Freedom Station, providing food, shelter and ship repair to the people who live in the Asteroid Belt. He knows exactly what it means to live out in the Black. And working in the station’s pub, he sees everyone whol passes through: the geeks and the mechs, the miners and the sci guys. And the Earthies, fleeing the problems back on earth, coming out to the new colony worlds. Jack know who belongs out in Black. And who doesn’t. Until Kit comes walking into the pub. And challenges everything he believes about the Black, about the people who live there.” Jacket cover excerpt, Roaring Brook Press, 2005
Ages 12 and up	Escape from Earth, edited by Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois, (Short story collection), 420 pages “Imagine a place where interplanetary travel isn’t just possible-it’s commonplace. Human beings have terraformed Mars. You can reach into another dimension through a wormhole. The virtual world can be the only place where you exist, because you don’t have a body. The possibilities are endless. Escape from Earth…will take you places beyond your imagination.” Back cover excerpt, Firebrand, Penguin Group, compilation copyright, 2006
Ages 12 and up	Red Planet by Robert A. Heinlein, 229 pages “When Jim rescues a strange alien from certain death, he names the creature Willis, and the two become inseparable. It turns out that Willis is a Martian bouncer, a ball of fur with extraordinary powers of mimicry. When Jim brings Willis to his school on Mars, the headmaster confiscates his furry friend for scientific study, prompting Jim and his buddy Frank to launch a rescue operation, only to stumble onto a treacherous plot. Embarking on a desperate quest to war the colonists, the three friends set in motion events that will change the red planet forever.” Back cover excerpt, Ballantine Books, 2006, original text copyright, 1949  *A classic