As part of our Futures unit in fifth grade, students will read a Science
Fiction book and complete a book report.
Science Fiction Books
Moderate Readers
Shadow Children, by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Among the Hidden
Among the Barons
Among the Impostors
Among the Brave
Among the Betrayed
Among the Enemy
Shadow Children (Box Set): Hidden; Impostors; Betrayed; Barons
Born third at a time when having more than two children per family is illegal
and subject to seizure and punishment by the Population Police, Luke has
spent all of his 12 years in hiding. His parents disobeyed once by having him
and are determined not to do anything unlawful again. At first the woods
around his family's farm are thick enough to conceal him when he plays and
works outdoors, but when the government develops some of that land for
housing, his world narrows...
by Catherine Jinks
Evil Genius
A genius IQ, hacking into computers by age 7, grooming for world domination
by age 14... sound like anyone we know? A complex tale, fun to read...
by William Sleator
The Last Universe
After a brief introduction to the uncertainty of quantum mechanics, the
paradox of Schrodinger's cat, and the possibility of infinite universes,
Sleator launches into a story inspired by these ideas. Fourteen-year-old
Susan feels burdened by her parents' expectation that she will provide help
and companionship for her older brother, Gary, an invalid who is wheelchair-
bound and becoming progressively weaker. Exploring their large garden, they
discover that entering the often-invisible maze at its center will enable
them to travel to other times and even different versions the present
reality
The Boy Who Couldn't Die (more horror than sci-fi)
just-for-fun creepy adventure, with a plot based on Hollywood-style voodoo
lore
The Boy Who Reversed Himself
sometimes not-so-average teenagers facing the physical and mathematical
absurdities of our universe
Interstellar Pig and Parasite Pig
a boy's addiction to the eponymous game played by the odd trio next door
Singularity
16-year-old twins Harry and Barry stumble across a gateway to another
universe, where a distortion in time and space causes a dramatic change in
their competitive relationship
The House of Stairs
chilling, suspenseful indictment of mind control is a classic of science
fiction...
Pre Teen Readers
Douglas Adams... Hitchhiker's Guide Trilogy (series of 5 books)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Life, the Universe and Everything
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
Mostly Harmless
Join hapless hero Arthur Dent as he travels the galaxy with his intrepid pal
Ford Prefect, getting into horrible messes and generally wreaking hilarious
havoc. Dent is grabbed from Earth moments before a cosmic construction team
obliterates the planet to build a freeway. You'll never read funnier science
fiction; Adams is a master of intelligent satire, barbed wit, and comedic
dialogue...
Or get them all together, leather bound with gilt edges, in the
Hitchhiker's "bible" The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide: Five Complete Novels
and One Story
By Michael Chabon...
Summerland
A gifted child's review... "The book involves other dimensions, but
characters must travel to them using special methods. It really gets you to
thinking: Even though our universe may be infinite, could it just be a tiny
part of something big?"
Alan Dean Foster
The Taken Trilogy: Lost and Found, The Light-years Beneath My Feet, and The
Candle of Distant Earth
Marcus Walker, a Chicago commodities broker, and George, a talking dog, fall
victim to the seven-foot Vilenjji, who roam outer space and snatch specimens
from various backward planets to sell as novelty pets to wealthy clients.
Marc and George are the only Earth samples in the vast traveling zoo en route
to an undisclosed alien marketplace...
Monica Furlong
Wise Child - about a young girl's apprenticeship to a "good" witch, set in
the British Isles soon after King Arthur's time
Juniper - the prequel, but read it second...
Robert A. Heinlein (see more titles in Young Adult)
Starman Jones - the stories Heinlein wrote for serialization in boy scout
magazines, later published as books
Have space suit - will travel - Teenager Kip Russell, infatuated with the
idea of traveling to the Moon, enters a contest to win such an opportunity...
Glory road - Heinlein's one true fantasy novel, Glory Road is as much fun
today as when he wrote it...
The Door into Summer - the quintessential time travel paradox story...
Young Adult Readers - these titles may have more adult themes and implications
Robert A. Heinlein (see more titles in Pre-teen)
Revolt in 2100 & Methuselah's Children - some of Heinlein's earlier works...
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress - tale of revolution on the moon in 2076,
where "Loonies" are kept poor and oppressed by an Earth-based Authority that
turns huge profits at their expense...
Tunnel in the sky - What was to have been a standard ten-day survival test
had suddenly become an indefinite life-or-death nightmare. Now they were
stranded somewhere in the universe...
Orphans of the sky - a ship drifting through the currents of space as a
microcosm of society, complete with class struggles, politics, and love and
family...
Citizen of the Galaxy - In a distant galaxy, the atrocity of slavery was
alive and well, and young Thorby was just another orphaned boy sold at
auction. But his new owner is not what he appears to be...
Job: A Comedy of Justice - After he fire-walked in Polynesia, the world
wasn't the same for Alec Graham. As natural accidents occurred without cease,
Alec knew Armageddon and the Day of Judgment were near...
Expanded Universe - an interesting alternate view of Heinlein's writing
including many stories not featured in other anthologies, with some of his
nonfiction opinions interspersed...
Kurt Vonnegut
Sirens of Titan - The richest and most depraved man on Earth takes a wild
space journey to distant worlds, learning about the purpose of human life
along the way...
Source ( With permission): Hoagies Hot Topics Reading List: Science Fiction
and Fantasy, Hoagies Gifted Education www.hoagiesgifted.org, ©1999-2006
Carolyn K., director of Hoagies' Gifted Education Page May not be republished
without permission.