Sci Fi book recs for 12yo on a college reading level

[Anonymous]

I just finished The Ones We're Meant to Find and couldn't put it down. Takes place in the future during a time of environmental catastrophes and follows the relationship of two sisters who are teens at the beginning of the book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just finished The Ones We're Meant to Find and couldn't put it down. Takes place in the future during a time of environmental catastrophes and follows the relationship of two sisters who are teens at the beginning of the book.

Let me clarify: the sisters are teens at the beginning of the story but the time-line isn't linear. And there's a sci-fi twist about one of the sisters but I don't want to give the spoiler so won't say more.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series. She could start with the more YA sequence - Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, Dragondrums (aka the Harper Hall trilogy) - which are fully connected into the main series.

Yeah, those are problematic. Even the YA ones. Though not as problematic as Heinlein, Asimov, Herbert, etc. A lot of the books I read as a 12-year-old, I would never recommend now. Plus there's no need, because there are other (better) books.

I think I read Dragonsong when I was 10?

A 12 year old can handle that.

The question isn't whether a 12-year-old can handle it.

The book came out in 1976. Read it again now, see what you think.

If it could be handled in 1976, what’s the reason a 12yr old can’t handle it now?

Again, it's not about a 12-year-old HANDLING it. As you know, there have been many societal changes since 1976, when the first book was published. A book that spoke to you when you were 10, when there were almost no similar books with main characters who were competent girls, so it was this or Asimov/Heinlein/Piers Anthony, would not necessarily speak to a 12-year-old now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about the Shipbreaker series by Paulo Baciagulpi? I may have misspelled his last name. I read the series out loud to my son when he was 12 and we all enjoyed it.

Shipbreaker is great. However be aware that some of his other books, like Windup Girl, are for adults.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of "classic sci fi" like Heinlein is pretty dated and unpleasant to read, especially for a 12 year old. You want to find something either funny or recently written (or both). Alan Dean Foster's Glory Lane is funny. Elizabeth Moon's Serrano series is good. The Expanse is good but a little creepy. The Martian is good. Hitchhiker's Guide is dated but still great. Packing for Mars by Mary Roach is not fiction but it's fun.

For fantasy:
Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. As someone else mentioned, Brandon Sanderson finished the series after Jordan died.
Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea series.
Guy Gavriel Kays's Finovar series.
Robin McKinley's books; Outlaws of Sherwood is a good intro, or Sunshine.
T. Kingfisher's books; Clockwork Boys is a good intro.
Terry Pratchett's books (all).
Garth Nix's Abhorsen series.
Naomi Novik's Termeraire series or the standalone book Uprooted.
Jane Lindskold's Firekeeper books.

Robin McKinley! I just re read Beauty upon the suggestion of someone on dcum and it was just so well written, an absolute pleasure to read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Again, it's not about a 12-year-old HANDLING it. As you know, there have been many societal changes since 1976, when the first book was published. A book that spoke to you when you were 10, when there were almost no similar books with main characters who were competent girls, so it was this or Asimov/Heinlein/Piers Anthony, would not necessarily speak to a 12-year-old now.

This is such an issue in scifi / fantasy, thank you for saying it. We had so few options, especially for female characters, and also there wasn't a lot of genre YA so we all just read the adult stuff pretty young. It skews now-adult ideas of what is good.

I read all the Piers Anthony books. They were bad, and he is bad, but I still have fond memories because of how and when I encountered them. The Pern books were similarly formative for so many people, especially because of the early online community, and it's hard for people to hear or remember that they are sexist, homophobic, rapey, etc.

On the flip side, there is a lot of drivel in the scifi / fantasy market now, especially in YA. But at least kids have options. My kid reads the Lost Cities books. I think they are tedious, but they are age appropriate with a female protag and I'm glad they're available.

[Anonymous]

My son really like the Prometheus Project books by Douglas Richards. The reading level might be a little low but the content should be appropriate.

[Anonymous]

American Gods

[Anonymous]

Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold. Hugo award for best series a few years ago.

I really liked these books!

[Anonymous]

Orwell’s 1984

- particularly relevant to what is happening to American society right now.

[Anonymous]

I would not really give much thought to a 12 year olds reading level unless they are struggling. Most fiction is written on the 8th or 9th grade level so a 12 year is fine with anything as long as the subject matter is appropriate.

[Anonymous]

My 12 year old LOVES The books of Janet Edwards, and I enjoy them too.

The Hivemind series has a teenage female main character living in a huge futuristic underground city.
https://janetedwards.com/hive-mind-future/

The Earth Girl series has also focuses on a teen girl, this one in a society that can “portal” between many colonized planets.

[Anonymous]

Hyperion series, by Dan Simmons. He's gone a little crazy politically lately, but this series is great, not political, and for your 12 year old daughter, it has one of my all time favorite woman characters.