SF for kids and teens?
Sandra_M_Lo...@xerox.com
don`t have a list of SF for kids and teens, or any books in my lists designated
as juvenile. So what I would like is a list of reccommendations for books for
the very young and for teens. Please feel free to include some brief comments
about why you reccommend any given book.
Many thanks in advance
Sandy
Charles Jacob Cohen
"So You Want To Be A Wizard" by Diane Duane. The are great, thoughtfull
stories that kept my interest the entire way. They deal not only with
fantasy elements but with science. Highly recommended.
Also, Patricia Wrede, whose books I wish I could find more of, writes a
number of books aimed at teenages that I love. She is a good fantasy
writer though, not SF.
- Chuck
--
"I do not feel obliged to believe that same God who endowed us with sense,
reason, and intellect, had intended for us to forgo their use." - Galileo
"I'm an engineer, not a dictionary!" - Me
Andrew C. Plotkin
teens? Sandra_M_Lowe.Henr80@XER (386)
> I have searched my bibliographies and lists and have surprised myself that I
> don`t have a list of SF for kids and teens, or any books in my lists designated
> as juvenile. So what I would like is a list of reccommendations for books for
the very young and for teens.
A great many non-"juvenile" SF books are quite readable by kids and
teenagers. I think I had devoured all of Niven's stuff by age 13 or so.
(On the other hand, I couldn't make a dent in _Stars in My Pocket Like
Grains of Sand_. :-) Got to get back to that someday....)
Considering younger stuff: (10 to 13-ish, I think):
Sylvia Louise Engdahl: Several books, in a couple serieses. _Enchantress
From the Stars_, _The Far Side of Evil_ are the titles I remember.
_EftS_ is the first of two books about an agent of an interstellar human
civilization, who has to work on less-advanced human planets without
violating a non-interference Prime Directive-type law. Extremely good.
Zilpha Snyder: a trilogy, styled as fantasy but with SF elements, I
think. _Below the Root_, _And All Between_, _After the Celebration_.
William Sleator: Many books. Warning: He's writing for kids, but he
doesn't pull any punches emotionally. Some of his books rival any
"adult" dystopian SF.
Daniel Pinkwater: Many books with SF content. Thoroughly silly.
Everybody loves his stuff.
I second the motion for Duane's "Wizard" books. For everybody. (Just
been reprinted, too.)
--Z
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
Erich R Schneider
I recommend:
The first 3 "Earthsea" books, by Ursula K. LeGuin: _A Wizard of Earthsea_,
_The Tombs of Atuan_, _The Farthest Shore_. Also, the "Harper Hall" books
by Anne McCaffrey: _Dragonsinger_,_Dragonsong_, _Dragondrums_.
I read these books when I was a teenager and enjoyed them very much.
All of them deal with people that age, and I found them very relevant
to my life at the time.
My tastes have since expanded, but I remember having a good time with
these.
--
Erich Schneider esch...@cs.tamu.edu
"The Hierophant is Disguised and Confused."
Andrew M. Solovay
A lot of early Heinlein is aimed at adolescent boys, though it
holds up very well to adult reading. Look into "Tunnel in the
Sky", "Starship Troopers", "Citizen of the Galaxy", "Red Planet".
Of course, the kids'll get a lot of Heinlein philosophy, so use
caution...
If you're open to fantasy as well as science-fiction, I'd suggest
Le Guin's "Earthsea Trilogy": _A_Wizard_of_Earthsea_, _The_Tombs_
_of_Atuan, and _The Farthest_Shore_. (The fourth book didn't
measure up, IMPO.)
--
Andrew Michael Solovay
"When angry, count four. When very angry, swear."
--Mark Twain
Andrew M. Solovay
>If you're open to fantasy as well as science-fiction, I'd suggest
>Le Guin's "Earthsea Trilogy": _A_Wizard_of_Earthsea_, _The_Tombs_
>_of_Atuan, and _The Farthest_Shore_. (The fourth book didn't
>measure up, IMPO.)
A self-correction (or rather self-ammendation):
If you want fantasy as well as SF, *for Eru's sake* include
Tolkien's The_Hobbit_! Fantastic for almost all ages. Accessible
to (in fact, written for) children, but with a lot of complexity
and surprises.
You may want to include CS Lewis's _Chronicles_of_Narnia_, but I
can't heartily recommend them. I know a lot of people who love
them, but I have two big problems with them: (1) The Christian
allegory is so thick you can cut it with a knife, and (2) Lewis
talks down to his audience. For these reasons, I haven't been
able to read Narnia since junior high, whereas I go back to
_Hobbit_ on a regular basis.
Ojvind Bernander
>teens? Sandra_M_Lowe.Henr80@XER (386)
>
>> I have searched my bibliographies and lists and have surprised myself that I
>> don`t have a list of SF for kids and teens, or any books in my lists designated
>> as juvenile. So what I would like is a list of reccommendations for books for
>the very young and for teens.
I grew up on, and revered, C.S. Lewis septology about Narnia.
The first one that Lewis wrote was "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe."
The first one, chronologically, is called, hm, in Swedish it was called
"My Uncle, the Magician." The books can be read independently and though
it is fantasy rather than sf it opened my eyes to "fantastic" literature.
They are still wonderful after all these years and have been turned into
radio and TV shows. Great stuff.
-- Oj
coz...@garnet.berkeley.edu
>I grew up on, and revered, C.S. Lewis septology about Narnia.
>The first one that Lewis wrote was "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe."
>The first one, chronologically, is called, hm, in Swedish it was called
>"My Uncle, the Magician." ....
In English, _The Magician's Nephew._
Ted Nolan
OK, I'll bite:
1) Heinlein of course. My favorites were always _Space Cadet_,
_Citizen of the Galaxy_, _Startship Troopers_ (only marginally
a "juvenile"), _Have Spacesuit, Will Travel_, and
_The Rolling Stones_.
2) Alan E. Nourse. Both his "Hospital Earth" milleu and some of his
individual stories. In particular, I must have read _Raiders From
the Rings_ at least 50 times (literally). I also have fond memories
of _Scavengers in Space_ (I think that's right..), _Trouble on
Titan_, and especially _The Universe Between_.
3) Andre Norton. Norton's universe has a rather different slant
for a youngster. There are strict limits on everything. Power
packs run out, lifeboats crash.. A lot of her stuff left me cold,
but there were some that knocked me for a loop. First and foremost:
_The Zero Stone_ and the followup _Uncharted Stars. Then,
_The Stars are Ours_ and _The Last Planet_.
4) Lester Del Ray. Who can forget _The Runaway Robot_, in which an
accident in manufacturing somehow gives a robot free will. He also
did an entertaining alternate earths book about a boy following his
inventor father across multiple timelines (the name, unfortunately,
escapes me.)
5) Ben Bova. Several of his Neanderthals in space, weather workers
on Titan books got filed in juveniles at my library at least.
My favorite was _Starguard_.
6) Doc Smith. Not written as juveniles, but the teen ages are probably
the best time to hit them. I've heard so many negative comments in
later years, that I've been scared to re-read, but at the time,
oh what marvels!
7) Asimov. His Lucky Starr stories are not his best work, but they
are entertaining, and it's interesting to see him working with
concepts he later refined.
8) Burroughs. Like Doc Smith, it may be best to first meet John Carter
as a teen. _A Princess of Mars_ is the classic and prototype of
course.
For the younger set:
1) The Space Cat books by Ted Key (?)
2) The Freddie the Pig books (by ?)
3) The Mrs. Pickerel books
And just because I have to throw it in:
_Up Periscope_ by somebody White. It's not SF, but for a Kid in the
60s, a WWII submarine comes pretty close, and it was one of my all time
favorites.
Ted Nolan
t...@usasoc.soc.mil
I'm sure I'll think of more just after posting this...
Dana Goldblatt
Some sf authors I remembered liking as a little girl:
Andre Norton, mainly
H M Hoover
A M Lightner
Sylvia Enghdal (mentioned earlier)
Annabel & Edgar Johnston
I don't know how Hoover & Lightner would hold up to adult
reading since I haven't read either since 6th grade, but
their books were very enjoyable then.
I also had a favorite book in 2nd grade that
did *not* hold up to later re-reading in 6th grade:
Odyssey from River Bend (or maybe Odyssey *to* River Bend)--
but it sure was great in 2nd grade.
-dana
obri...@meena.cc.uregina.ca
I suppose it all depends on the kid/teen. Heinlein wrote *tons* of
juveniles - pretty unsophisticated I suppose from a '90's perspective
but stuff like _Starman Jones_ _Between Planets_ _Podkayne of Mars_
ummmm.....I could go on for a week...._Farmer in the Sky_ _Space Cadets_
Rocket Ship Galileo_....I know that fantasy is not SF but Lloyd Alexander
wrote a humdinger of a series called The Prydain Chronicles that are good
for any age IMNSHO - adventure, mystery, magic with some not-too-preachy
pointers about honour, duty and self-reliance thrown in. When I was quite
young I read a book by Arthur C. Clarke called _The City and the Stars_
that has a teen-age protagonist and which entertained, enthralled, and
boggled me utterly. Hey - let's not forget that SF classic _Freddy and the
Baseball Team From Mars_! Just about anything by Andre Norton probably
classifies as juveniles.....her (his?) books were fast and exciting, not
too complex and the good guys usually won. _Star Rangers_ was my favourite,
followed by _Catseye_. (The older Norton was, I believe, superior to that
published later.) Finally, the-best-saved-for-last, _The Witches of Karres_
by James H. Schmitz. Fun. First page to last page. I laughed, I cried, it
made my 12-year-old skin crawl in spots.....good clean fun.
Jeff
YAN...@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu
Sandra_M_Lo...@XEROX.COM writes:
>
between age 11-15; what I think would interest a kid in that age group.
I think just about all SF is accessible to 16+.
1): Asimov _I Robot_ or even better _Complete Robots_
A teenager (13+) should have no trouble with most of these. I
personally started goint through these books around 13. Most of the stories
depend on clever and LOGICAL ideas; a great primer IMO on how to think clearly
and compactly.
2): Asimov, Issac _Foundation Trilogy_
I first read it when I was 12; same comment as above, especially the
first book.
3): Ray Bradbury: any short story. I remember my English teacher
recomending these stories in 7th grade. Very humanistic and sentimental.
It actually follows more of O. Henry tradition than SF.
4): Clarke, Arthur C. : _Childhood's End_; _Rendezvous with Rama_ (except
for one paragraph regarding sex, or more accurately, female mammaries in space)
These were the first "real" SF books I read, and this was in 5th grade. I'll
be the first to admit that some of the ideas behind _Childhood's End_ was
beyond me, but what I caught from both of these books just blew me away.
5): Foster, Alan Dean _Flinx and Pip series_ _Icerigger series_; I may
catch some flack for it, but I really enjoyed these books; Flinx is a teen
who has extraordinary mental powers which is not fully realized yet. The
universe (which is common to both series) is dominated by humans and an
insect race, peopled with various sects and political interests, some of whom
want Flinx for various reasons. Icerigger series is about a group of people
stranded on an ice planet peopled by an intelligent cat-based race, and how
the stranded people manage to survive; and then help the native race toward
technology and independence.
6): Card, Orson Scott _Ender's Game_; I think this book will appeal
to 11-15 year olds, due to emphasis on video games. On the other hand,
the two sequels definitely require some maturity. (I read this in college
though),
7): Christopher, John _The Tripods Trilogy_; an alien invasion story.
The main characters are early teens and pre-teens. However, in the last book,
a main character is killed. I still can't believe they killed him.
8): Palmer, David R. _Emergence_; the last survivor of Earth is a young
super-intelligent girl (early teen or pre-teen). This is another book I read
in college, but still I think it will be enjoyable for the age range above.
9): Sheckley, Robert : Various short stories; somewhat hard to recommend.
Some of his stories will definitely appeal to the age range listed above.
(In fact, several young-reader anthologies include his stories.) On the
other hand, several of his stories are clearly adult in nature.
10): Van Vogt, A. E.: Voyage of the Space Beagle; violent; but less so than
say, Aliens (the movie); lots of excitement, though.
I was in a fairly good elementary school system. Some of the books my
classmates read at 5th, 6th and 7th grades included _Gateway_ by Fredrik Pohl,
and even _Dune_ by Frank Herbert. I really don't think, though, that an
average early teen or pre-teen would be interested in these.
Also, as some earlier post suggested, "juveniles" by Heinlein; or actually
any Heinlein written before _Stranger in a Strange Land_ should be accessible
to pre 7th graders.
These were the books I remember from my 5th-7th grade (for the most part);
As long as you stay away from explicit sex or excessive violence, or
science which is "too complex", I think kids (4th-8th graders) can get a lot
out of most SF. Of course, when they re-read these stories later in life,
they will get more out of it, but even at a young age, they will be better
off.
************************************************************************
"INSANITY IS A VIRTUALLY IMPREGNABLE GAMBIT...
BUT YOU HAVE TO LAY THE GROUNDWORK EARLY IN THE GAME..."
JUNSOK YANG (YAN...@YALEVM.YCC.YALEEDU)
Jennifer E. Levine
|>
|> How about Madeleine L'Engle's _A Wrinkle in Time_? While it is more
|> fantasy, it has strong sf elements. The follow up books, _A Wind in
|> the Door_ and _A Swiftly Tilting Planet_ are more obviously Christian in
|> their outlook, but they are all good reads. My favorite, by far, is the
|> first one.
I second this recommendation!
Also for younger children (8-10)
Mrs Frisby and the Rat's of Nim (can't remember the author)
This was one of my FAVORITES!
--Jennifer
jle...@apollo.hp.com
Joel Plutchak
>
>OK, I'll bite:
>
Oooh, I *like* that!
> 8) Burroughs. Like Doc Smith, it may be best to first meet John Carter
> as a teen. _A Princess of Mars_ is the classic and prototype of
> course.
And of course _Naked Lunch_ may give a young person just the
right mindset to better enable him/her to deal with society.
:-)
--
Joel Plutchak, Research Programmer/Analyst
Dani Zweig
>Some sf authors I remembered liking as a little girl:
>I don't know how Hoover & Lightner would hold up to adult reading...
Hoover holds up remarkably well.
-- Dani Zweig
Dani Zweig
>10): Van Vogt, A. E.: Voyage of the Space Beagle; violent; but less so than
>say, Aliens (the movie); lots of excitement, though.
If you're pointing out a Van Vogt book to a younger reader, I'd suggest
Slan instead. VotSB has many concepts and themes that haven't aged well.
-----
Dani Zweig
da...@netcom.com
'T is with our judgements as our watches, none
Go alike, yet each believes his own
--Alexander Pope
Michael Wasson
>I have searched my bibliographies and lists and have surprised myself that I
>don`t have a list of SF for kids and teens, or any books in my lists designated
>as juvenile. So what I would like is a list of reccommendations for books for
>the very young and for teens. Please feel free to include some brief comments
>about why you reccommend any given book.
R.A. Heinlein's series of juvenile novels, which includes, off the top
of my head:
Have Space Suit Will Travel
The Red Planet
The Rolling Stones
Starbeast
Between Worlds
Time for the Stars [? think that's right]
Farmer in the Sky
Space Cadet
and some others I can't think of right now. RAH wrote them for children
(well, for boys, really) but he doesn't talk down, he assumes the
audience is intelligent, and he deals with real issues, such as personal
responsibility, when is it right to defy authority, what does it mean
to be "adult," what does it mean to be moral, etc etc. Plus the science
is good (if dated). All in the context of a fast-paced adventure story.
Heck, as an adult I read them and they *still* make me want to join
the space program...
RAH's limitation was that he mostly wrote about father-son relationships.
The one book I can think of with a female protagonist (Podkayne of Mars)
is hardly, IMO, worth reading. Some of his values are squarely 1950.
But then, parts of _Red Planet_ are downright subversive.
Stephen R Smoot
>teens? Sandra_M_Lowe.Henr80@XER (386)
>
>> I have searched my bibliographies and lists and have surprised myself that I
>> don`t have a list of SF for kids and teens, or any books in my lists designated
>> as juvenile. So what I would like is a list of reccommendations for books for
>the very young and for teens.
I'll recomend (fantasy):
McKillip: The Riddle Master of Hed Trilogy (Harpist in
the Wind, Riddle Master of Head, Heir of Sea and Fire)
Tolkien: The Hobbit
And SF:
Schmitz: Witches of Karres
Heinlein: Tunnel in the Sky (hope that's the right name)
-s
Nan Ellman
I haven't seen these books mentioned (all by John Christopher):
The Tripod Series:
The White Mountains
The City of Gold and Lead
The Pool of Fire
When the Tripods Came (prequel, not as good as the others, but
then I read it as an adult.)
The Prince in Waiting Series:
The Prince in Waiting
Beyond the Burning Lands
The Sword of the Spirits
Others:
The Guardians
The Lotus Caves
Wild Jack
Dom and Va (I didn't like this one much either).
Did I miss any (of his juveniles, that is)?
I also second the recommendation for Sylvia Louise Engdahl's books:
Enchantress From The Stars
The Far Side of Evil
This Star Shall Abide
Beyond the Tomorrow Mountains
The Doors of the Universe
Also:
The Forgotton Door by (I think) Alexander Key
--
----------------------------------------------------------------
Nan Ellman <n...@helios.ucsc.edu>
----------------------------------------------------------------
David Gibbs
Another series that would work well for the younger set is:
The Doctor Dolittle series by (I think) Hugh Lofting (but the
author could be way-wrong.)
Several of them had sf'ish themes to them, including a visit
to the moon.
-David
(dag...@quantum.qnx.com)
Claudia Zornow
> A lot of early Heinlein is aimed at adolescent boys, though it
> holds up very well to adult reading. Look into "Tunnel in the
> Sky", "Starship Troopers", "Citizen of the Galaxy", "Red Planet".
Early Heinlein also holds up well with pre-adolescent girls; at
least it did with this one. I would add "Have Space Suit, Will
Travel" and "Farmer in the Sky" to the above list.
Also, check out the juvenile SF written by Lester del Rey,
Alan Nourse, and Ben Bova. Some of their works may be a bit
dated now, but should still be great fun.
Claudia
jjf...@skcla.monsanto.com
Good grief! I don't know where to start, perhaps I should just e-mail my
library list and cross out the non-juve SF&F :)
Fantasy:
Narnia septalogy by CS Lewis
The Dark Is Rising 5 books by (ooo darn I hate when this happens)
My Fathers' Dragon, ? and Dragons of Blueland (another author
forgotten) (for the very young)
Stuart Little, The Trumpet of The Swan, Charlotte's Web by EB White
The Chronicles of Pyrdain by Lloyd Alexander (5 books)
SF:
A Wrinkle In Time, A Wind In The Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, etc.
by Madeline L'Engle
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Danny Dunn and the ... (about 20-odd books) Williams & Abrashkin (sp?)
Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet (five books in series) by
Eleanor Cameron
Guys From Space, Toothgnasher Thunderclap & others by Daniel Pinkwater
(picture books)
Stranger From the Depths (another forgotten author, I finally found
an abridged copy again)
I think I'll stop here and catch my breath. If you run out, e-mail me.
And now for a query: Years ago, as a Boy Sprout^H^H^H^H^Hcout I read a series
of short stories in Boys' Life magazine, about some kids who discover a time
machine, and collect other kids from across time, including a Spartan boy, and
someone named Kaybee Tentroy, from the far future. The stories were extremely
entertaining, and I even think I found a collection of them once in my hometown
library, somewhere in the middle of the alphabet :) Any clues here for author
and/or titles? Issues of Boys' Life?
Joel
--
jjf...@skcla.monsanto.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I want peace on earth, and goodwill towards man."
"We don't do that kind of thing, we're the United States Government!"
-- from _Sneakers_
Chris Page
have already been listed, but here goes: (Note that I also
recommend these books for adults as well)
A second recommendation for Lloyd Alexander's chronicles of Prydian
(The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran
Wanderer, The High King.) Also in fantasy try Brian Jaques
three books (Redwall, ?Mossflower?, Mattimeo) about fantasy
stories involving animals which is really well done despite
occasionally being a bit too cutsie.
Madeline L'Engle has written many books - she has four sequels
to A Wrinkle in Time - ?A Wind in the Door?, A Swiftly Tilting
Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time. I really liked
the first, third and fifth (and haven't yet read the third).
She also has about a dozen other spin-off books from the main
series, none of which I've read.
Already mentioned is Asimov's Caves of Steel - I'd also vote
for The Naked Sun, Pebble in the Sky, and maybe also The
Currents of Space and The Stars like Dust.
There's also Jane Yolen's pit dragons trilogy, which gets
very good after you make it through the first book - they are
Heart's Blood, Dragon's Blood and A Sending of Dragons. I
keep hoping she'll write a fourth.
McCaffrey's Harper Hall trilogy (Dragonsong, Dragonsinger,
Dragondrums) is another good option, as is her book Decision
at Doona.
One other author that I remember writing fantasy that I really
liked in third grade has a last name Crew, though I don't know
if I'd like her books any more.
Hope this helps,
Chris Page
pa...@student.physics.upenn.edu
coz...@garnet.berkeley.edu
>The Tripod Series: (by John Christopher)
>
> The White Mountains
> The City of Gold and Lead
> The Pool of Fire
>
> When the Tripods Came (prequel, not as good as the others, but
> then I read it as an adult.)
Ah, how interesting. I read _The White Mountains_ once, never saw the
other volumes, but maybe someone who has read the whole series including
the prequel can tell me this:
Is Christopher working on a "What if H.G. Wells's Martian invasion had
succeeded?" scenario? That is certainly what it seemed like to me.
Anyone have any definite answers? indefinite answers? opinions?
Dorothy J. Heydt
UC Berkeley
Disclaimer: This is the Cozzarelli Lab's account, not mine--but I don't
think anybody else ever reads it.
Marcy Thompson
>>> I have searched my bibliographies and lists and have surprised myself that I
>>> as juvenile. So what I would like [are] reccommendations for books for
>>> the very young and for teens.
If you are including fantasy, I recommend:
Pierce, Tamora
The Song of the Lioness (Alanna, the first adventure; In the Hand
of the Goddess; The Woman Who Rides Like
a Man; Lioness Rampant)
McKinley, Robin
The Blue Sword
These are both fabulously popular with every 10 - 15 year-old girl to whom
I give them. (I haven't tried giving them to boys, so I don't know how
they'd feel)
Alexander, Lloyd
The Chronicales of Prydain (The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron,
The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, The
High King)
These have been wildly popular with both boys and girls.
For SF, try anything by John Christopher.
Marcy
--
Marcy Thompson
SoftQuad (West)
ma...@sqwest.wimsey.bc.ca (preferred) or ma...@sq.com
Rob McGovern
>holds up very well to adult reading. Look into "Tunnel in the
>Sky", "Starship Troopers", "Citizen of the Galaxy", "Red Planet".
>Of course, the kids'll get a lot of Heinlein philosophy, so use
>caution...
>
>If you're open to fantasy as well as science-fiction, I'd suggest
>Le Guin's "Earthsea Trilogy": _A_Wizard_of_Earthsea_, _The_Tombs_
>_of_Atuan, and _The Farthest_Shore_. (The fourth book didn't
>measure up, IMPO.)
>--
>Andrew Michael Solovay
>
>"When angry, count four. When very angry, swear."
> --Mark Twain
I tend to agree with early Heinlein as a good starting place. Then
you can corrupt your children's minds in a way that will at least make
them think. The Earthsea Trilogy can get a little philosophical, but
it was fun to read as a teenager anyway. I also cut my teeth on
The Taran Wanderer sereis by LLoyd Alexander. But then again, I was
a warped youth and read anything in sight. By the time I got to
High school, I was half way through the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant,
had finished off my parents extensive collection of Asimov, Anthony,
Bradbury, McCaffery, and would read anything that anyone put into my
hands. Any way you look at it, science fiction and fantasy give
a much better education, and open up you mind better than video games
and cartoons.
Rob McGovern
Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey
> And now for a query: Years ago, as a Boy Sprout^H^H^H^H^Hcout I read a series
> of short stories in Boys' Life magazine, about some kids who discover a time
> machine, and collect other kids from across time, including a Spartan boy, and
> someone named Kaybee Tentroy, from the far future. The stories were extremely
> entertaining, and I even think I found a collection of them once in my hometown
> library, somewhere in the middle of the alphabet :) Any clues here for author
> and/or titles? Issues of Boys' Life?
Early Sixties, maybe late Fifties. The stories were by "Donald
Keith;" seems I read somewhere that that was a pseudonym. Check the
Nichols encyclopedia.
There was at least one long Time Machine serial published as a
hardcover novel. (Memory tells me there were *two* books, but the
picture is cloudy.)
The Time Machine itself was quite powerful, if not quite
user-friendly. You could set the controls for any point in space and
time, it was built to survive even in outer space, and it featured a
time-viewer so you could study history or the future.
Boy, I wanted one of these so badly I could taste it.
(Using the time-viewer could be dangerous, though. On some occasions
Brains Baynes would be watching some horrible scene from history, then
somebody would trip and fall on the gearshift knob and the Scouts
would find themselves in the middle of trouble...)
O~~* /_) ' / / /_/ ' , , ' ,_ _ \|/
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Gary Weiner
grade which were about a couple of kids who answer a classifed ad to
build a rocket ship. The series was called "The Mushroom Planet" or some
such thing. Does anyone remember the titles and/or the author?
Gary J. Weiner | Brookhaven National Laboratories | "The killer awoke
PO BOX 715 | National Synchrotron Light Source | before dawn...
Upton,NY 11973 | wei...@bnlls1.nsls.bnl.gov | he put his boots on..."
Joerg Plate
if necessary, I look it up at home) about Morgon, Rendel, the Riddlemaster etc.
I hope you know what I mean. It's been a long time, since I read them, but I
liked them a lot.
MfG
J"org
--
Snail: J"org Plate, Schollendamm 25, W-2870 Delmenhorst, Germany
EMail: Joerg...@Informatik.Uni-Oldenburg.DE (should be mathematics...)
CompuServe: 100024,166 ReflexTest: 932! "I'm working on it" L.Holt
Mike Pingleton
<_Up Periscope_ by somebody White. It's not SF, but for a Kid in the
< 60s, a WWII submarine comes pretty close, and it was one of my all time
< favorites.
The author was Robb White, and he wrote a few other books featuring the war in
the Pacific. One I can remember was about two brothers flying SBD Dauntlesses
off a Midway carrier; another was about a U.S. destroyer where one man is left
alive, facing a Japanese destroyer in the Slot. One of my favorite authors
as a lad. These weren't frothy, lighthearted entertainment for kids; White's
stories were as serious as the war.
Mike Pingleton
obSciFi: 1st SF book: TERROR BY SATELLITE by I can't remember.
John Whitmore
>Hmmm, I seem to remember a series of books I read when I was in 5th or 6th
>grade which were about a couple of kids who answer a classifed ad to
>build a rocket ship. The series was called "The Mushroom Planet"
The author was Eleanor Cameron: the books were
_The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet_
_Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet_
_A Mystery for Mr. Bass_
and perhaps some others. Copyright on the first book is 1954,
and (as of the mid-sixties) they were published by Scholastic
Book Services.
John Whitmore
Chris Meadows
Good SF/Fantasy books for teens?
PERN!!!
Anne McCaffery's books about dragons, romance, and alien planets.
Oops, McCaffrey's, sorry. Typo. Anyway, they will always remain
one of my favorite series, no holds barred (Well, the Holds WERE
barred in some of the books, but that's beside the point... :)
AMBER!!!
Roger Zelazny's books about the true nature of the universe(s),
and the families who rule there. Not as good as some of Zelazny's
other works, perhaps, but alluring and intriguing just the same,
and an excellent read.
PIERS ANTHONY!!!
Though many on this group dislike him with a vengeance, younger
teens could readily get into some of his lighter stuff, such as
Xanth or Apprentice Adept. Just don't show them Battle Circle or
Bio of a Space Tyrant until they get older. MUCH older.
TERRY PRATCHETT!!!
Doing for fantasy what Douglas Adams did for SF in Hitchhiker's
Guide, Terry Pratchett's Discworld books are among the funniest
fantasy books in human history. They're also suitable for teenagers,
IMHO.
That's just a few of my favorites. Probably some of them will have
been mentioned already...
--
Chris Meadows // CHM173S@SMSVMA // CMEA...@NYX.CS.DU.EDU
"If blood be the price of admiralty, then I've just bought me
a naval commission." -- Corwin, SIGN OF THE UNICORN, Roger Zelazny
Chris Meadows
.bc.ca (Marcy Thompson) writes:
>
>>>> I have searched my bibliographies and lists and have surprised mysel
>>>> don`t have a list of SF for kids and teens, or any in my lists desig
>>>> as juvenile. So what I would like [are] reccommendations for books
>>>> the very young and for teens.
>
>If you are including fantasy, I recommend:
>
> Pierce, Tamora
> The Song of the Lioness (Alanna, the first adventure; In the Hand
> of the Goddess; The Woman Who Rides Like
> a Man; Lioness Rampant)
>
> McKinley, Robin
> The Blue Sword
>
>These are both fabulously popular with every 10 - 15 year-old girl to wh
>I give them. (I haven't tried giving them to boys, so I don't know how
>they'd feel)
>
> Alexander, Lloyd
> The Chronicales of Prydain (The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron
> The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, The
> High King)
>
>These have been wildly popular with both boys and girls.
>
>For SF, try anything by John Christopher.
>
>Marcy
>
>--
>
>Marcy Thompson
> SoftQuad (West)
> ma...@sqwest.wimsey.bc.ca (preferred) or ma...@sq.com
I LOVED the BLUE SWORD. Though I read the prequel, THE HERO AND THE
CROWN, first. I really liked THOTC better, myself.
Chris Meadows
Lester Del Rey wrote a book called either TIME TUNNEL or TUNNEL
THROUGH TIME (I forget which) about an inventor's son who had to
travel back a billion years or so to the age of the dinosaurs to
rescue his father and bring him back forward into the present.
And the author named White you refer to is Rob White. He wrote
a lot of naval stuff. Great author.
Beth Friedman
C> Is Christopher working on a "What if H.G. Wells's
C> Martian invasion had succeeded?" scenario? That is
C> certainly what it seemed like to me.
More or less. The difference is that Wells's Martians seemed to simply want to
exterminate the humans, whereas Christopher's enslaved them.
WHEN THE TRIPODS CAME has a strange feel to it because it's a book set in the
80s (90s, maybe) that's a prequel to a series set in a future that never seemed
to advance beyond the 60s.
* Origin: Beth's Point: Minneapolis, MN (1:282/341.5)