Looking for Kid's science fiction

QuantumIguana · 11-19-2013, 04:44 PM

My daughter is in first grade, and I am looking for some science fiction to read to her. She loves Simon Haynes "Hal Junior" books, and I am reading her "The Runaway Robot" by Lester Del Rey. She likes stories of kids having adventures in space. She'd like to have some books about girls having adventures in space, but the MC is most of these books are boys.

Can anyone recommend some books where kids - especially girls - have space adventures? Since I'm reading them to her, they can be more advanced than a first grader would normally read. And she reads at a third grade level anyway.

Dr. Drib · 11-19-2013, 06:22 PM

I recommend all of Robert A. Heinlein's juvenile SF - something like 10 or so titles.

Don

poohbear_nc · 11-19-2013, 06:25 PM

A Wrinkle in Time

davidfor · 11-19-2013, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I recommend all of Robert A. Heinlein's juvenile SF - something like 10 or so titles.

I will second that recommendation.

speakingtohe · 11-20-2013, 12:53 AM

Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey

Helen

Greg Anos · 11-20-2013, 07:07 AM

I'd recommend McCaffrey's Dragonsong and Dragonsinger.

Possibly the Lucky Starr series by Asimov.

kennyc · 11-20-2013, 07:24 AM

Friday by Heinlein......No, no, no....it's a joke okay!

Great recommendations above!

how about the Earthsea books? Fantasy rather than SF though.

Rizla · 11-20-2013, 08:18 AM

The Tripod trilogy by John Christopher (not very spacey, but super-cool). All the Doctor Who books. You could swap the genders with a bit of thought.

The Amber Spyglass / The Northern Lights (the first book) has a female lead. Again, not very spacey (and not very young adult).

Have Spacesuit Will Travel by Heinlein. I read it as a good and loved it. All in the first person. Change the gender. Also Islands in the Sky by Arthur C Clarke. All kid's stuff, unlike some of the above stuff IMO.

Yapyap · 11-20-2013, 10:48 AM

Seconding Doctor Who books, especially the new series tie-in books (not because they're "better" but they're more suitable for very young readers, I think). Also, the Eleven Doctors, Eleven stories anniversary compilation that should be released right about now is a great anthology of stories written by eleven currently popular YA and children's authors, and while not all of the stories star girls, many have young female companions.

My other ideas are probably more suitable for sightly older kids due to themes, but I'll mention them anyway in case someone else is looking for science fiction with girl protagonists and these are recent YA books I've enjoyed:

Earth Girl and Earth Star by Janet Edwards (these books have a mild romantic subplot - nothing explicit, but kids that age don't tend to be into romance) - not space-based, strictly speaking, but set on a future Earth with lots of colony worlds and almost everyone being able to travel away from Earth other than the main character and others like her.

Katya's World and Katya's War by Jonathan L. Howard (Katya's World may be suitable, depending on the child's maturity level; Katya's War has some violence of the sort that might upset a younger reader) - again, these aren't strictly space-based though - they take place on a future colony world, but almost all of the action is on that planet and underwater.

crich70 · 11-20-2013, 11:07 AM

My Robot Buddy by Alfred Slote
The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key
The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Cameron

alansplace · 11-20-2013, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I recommend all of Robert A. Heinlein's juvenile SF - something like 10 or so titles.

Don

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

I will second that recommendation.

Robert A. Heinlein's Scribner juveniles

1. Rocket Ship Galileo, 1947
2. Space Cadet, 1948
3 .Red Planet, 1949
4. Farmer in the Sky, 1950
5. Between Planets, 1951
6. The Rolling Stones (Space Family Stone) 1952
7. Starman Jones, 1953
8. The Star Beast, 1954
9. Tunnel in the Sky, 1955
10. Time for the Stars, 1956
11. Citizen of the Galaxy, 1957
12. Have Space Suit--Will Travel, 1958
(not Schribner's)
13. Starship Troopers, 1959
14. Podkayne of Mars, 1963

Librarian of Trivia - Emeritus

crich70 · 11-20-2013, 11:59 AM

A. Bertram Chandler's John Grimes books are good reads too. I acquired a couple double books (2 novels in each volume) from a former neighbor yrs ago and enjoyed them. They're more space opera than hard SF, but still a lot of fun.

HarryT · 11-20-2013, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crich70

A. Bertram Chandler's John Grimes books are good reads too. I acquired a couple double books (2 novels in each volume) from a former neighbor yrs ago and enjoyed them. They're more space opera than hard SF, but still a lot of fun.

They are, but isn't "first grade" about 6 years old? I really don't think they're suitable for that age.

Istvan diVega · 11-20-2013, 02:47 PM

Many great recommendations above, to which I'll add Alan Dean Foster's Spellsinger series. 6 is awfully young, but maybe she's a lot brighter and mature than I was at that age. I would like to think that isn't possible, but I fear I may be wrong....

Yapyap · 11-20-2013, 04:13 PM

I'd read Alexandre Dumas' Ten Years After (in three ~800-page volumes) through at least three times cover-to-cover by age six.

Did I understand absolutely everything about the French court intrigues? I'm fairly sure I didn't, but that didn't stand in the way of utter enjoyment.

I suspect a lot of kids, especially those who start to enjoy books early and are a bit ahead of their peers in development, are very happy with much more "mature" books than adults think. Of course there's stuff around that really isn't appropriate for very young children, but for a lot of this, I think children tend to filter out the inappropriate parts by virtue of just not quite understanding everything yet, focusing on the fun and adventures and action.

It does make suggesting books for a young reader (or book lover) tricky - obviously she's well ahead of what many other six- or seven-year-olds would be reading (or having read to them), but at the same time, it's impossible to know just how much effect, say, violence would have. Some young children are traumatised / scared by fictional violence while others are more than fine with it, for example.

Space adventures with girls seems to be one thing that's relatively lacking, still; there's plenty of kids' and YA fantasy, both contemporary and high fantasy, with girls as the heroes (and lots and lots of dystopian YA), but I'm really hard-pressed to think of many true sci fi / space adventures with girl protagonists.

11-19-2013, 04:44 PM	#1
QuantumIguana Philosopher Posts: 2,034 Karma: 18736532 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2 gen, Kindle Fire 1st Gen, Kindle Touch	Looking for Kid's science fiction My daughter is in first grade, and I am looking for some science fiction to read to her. She loves Simon Haynes "Hal Junior" books, and I am reading her "The Runaway Robot" by Lester Del Rey. She likes stories of kids having adventures in space. She'd like to have some books about girls having adventures in space, but the MC is most of these books are boys. Can anyone recommend some books where kids - especially girls - have space adventures? Since I'm reading them to her, they can be more advanced than a first grader would normally read. And she reads at a third grade level anyway.

11-20-2013, 08:18 AM	#8
Rizla Member Retired Posts: 3,183 Karma: 11721895 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Nook STR (rooted) & Sony T2	The Tripod trilogy by John Christopher (not very spacey, but super-cool). All the Doctor Who books. You could swap the genders with a bit of thought. The Amber Spyglass / The Northern Lights (the first book) has a female lead. Again, not very spacey (and not very young adult). Have Spacesuit Will Travel by Heinlein. I read it as a good and loved it. All in the first person. Change the gender. Also Islands in the Sky by Arthur C Clarke. All kid's stuff, unlike some of the above stuff IMO. Last edited by Rizla; 11-20-2013 at 08:48 AM.

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11-19-2013, 06:22 PM	#2
Dr. Drib Grand Sorcerer Posts: 45,441 Karma: 59592133 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Peru Device: KINDLE: Oasis 3, Scribe (1st), Matcha; KOBO: Libra 2, Libra Colour	I recommend all of Robert A. Heinlein's juvenile SF - something like 10 or so titles. Don

11-19-2013, 06:25 PM	#3
poohbear_nc Bah! Humbug! Posts: 63,412 Karma: 135239851 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Durham, NC Device: Every Kindle Ever Made & To Be Made!	A Wrinkle in Time

11-20-2013, 12:53 AM	#5
speakingtohe Wizard Posts: 4,812 Karma: 26912940 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: sony PRS-T1 and T3, Kobo Mini and Aura HD, Tablet	Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey Helen

11-20-2013, 07:07 AM	#6
Greg Anos Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,527 Karma: 37057604 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Pocketbook	I'd recommend McCaffrey's Dragonsong and Dragonsinger. Possibly the Lucky Starr series by Asimov.

11-20-2013, 07:24 AM	#7
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,897 Karma: 119230421 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	Friday by Heinlein......No, no, no....it's a joke okay! Great recommendations above! how about the Earthsea books? Fantasy rather than SF though.

11-20-2013, 10:48 AM	#9
Yapyap Guru Posts: 861 Karma: 3543721 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Estonia Device: Kindle Paperwhite, iPad 3, Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	Seconding Doctor Who books, especially the new series tie-in books (not because they're "better" but they're more suitable for very young readers, I think). Also, the Eleven Doctors, Eleven stories anniversary compilation that should be released right about now is a great anthology of stories written by eleven currently popular YA and children's authors, and while not all of the stories star girls, many have young female companions. My other ideas are probably more suitable for sightly older kids due to themes, but I'll mention them anyway in case someone else is looking for science fiction with girl protagonists and these are recent YA books I've enjoyed: Earth Girl and Earth Star by Janet Edwards (these books have a mild romantic subplot - nothing explicit, but kids that age don't tend to be into romance) - not space-based, strictly speaking, but set on a future Earth with lots of colony worlds and almost everyone being able to travel away from Earth other than the main character and others like her. Katya's World and Katya's War by Jonathan L. Howard (Katya's World may be suitable, depending on the child's maturity level; Katya's War has some violence of the sort that might upset a younger reader) - again, these aren't strictly space-based though - they take place on a future colony world, but almost all of the action is on that planet and underwater.

11-20-2013, 11:07 AM	#10
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,310 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	My Robot Buddy by Alfred Slote The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Cameron

11-20-2013, 11:59 AM	#12
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,310 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	A. Bertram Chandler's John Grimes books are good reads too. I acquired a couple double books (2 novels in each volume) from a former neighbor yrs ago and enjoyed them. They're more space opera than hard SF, but still a lot of fun.

11-20-2013, 02:47 PM	#14
Istvan diVega Inharmonious Posts: 416 Karma: 2157616 Join Date: Jan 2013 Device: Sony PRS-950, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1	Many great recommendations above, to which I'll add Alan Dean Foster's Spellsinger series. 6 is awfully young, but maybe she's a lot brighter and mature than I was at that age. I would like to think that isn't possible, but I fear I may be wrong....

11-20-2013, 04:13 PM	#15
Yapyap Guru Posts: 861 Karma: 3543721 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Estonia Device: Kindle Paperwhite, iPad 3, Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	I'd read Alexandre Dumas' Ten Years After (in three ~800-page volumes) through at least three times cover-to-cover by age six. Did I understand absolutely everything about the French court intrigues? I'm fairly sure I didn't, but that didn't stand in the way of utter enjoyment. I suspect a lot of kids, especially those who start to enjoy books early and are a bit ahead of their peers in development, are very happy with much more "mature" books than adults think. Of course there's stuff around that really isn't appropriate for very young children, but for a lot of this, I think children tend to filter out the inappropriate parts by virtue of just not quite understanding everything yet, focusing on the fun and adventures and action. It does make suggesting books for a young reader (or book lover) tricky - obviously she's well ahead of what many other six- or seven-year-olds would be reading (or having read to them), but at the same time, it's impossible to know just how much effect, say, violence would have. Some young children are traumatised / scared by fictional violence while others are more than fine with it, for example. Space adventures with girls seems to be one thing that's relatively lacking, still; there's plenty of kids' and YA fantasy, both contemporary and high fantasy, with girls as the heroes (and lots and lots of dystopian YA), but I'm really hard-pressed to think of many true sci fi / space adventures with girl protagonists.

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