Sci-Fi book recommendations for 11 yo

What are some current interesting sci fi books that a bright 11 yo might enjoy?
Thanks in advance.
Howard

On Fri, 2 Jan 2004 14:33:05 EST, Howard Sage wrote:
What are some current interesting sci fi books that a bright 11 yo might enjoy?

Intelligent 11 year olds don't read sci-fi, they read SF. ;-)

( One of the long-standing debates in writing circles is whether
the term "sci-fi" refers to all speculative fiction, or just mass-market
trash. SF is generally considered to be the proper term for
"good" speculative fiction, which includes Science Fiction as well
as Fantasy. )

Anyhow - does it have to be current? When I was 10 or 11, I *LOVED*
Asimov's Foundation trilogy. It's a classic. Not to mention
some of his short-story collections. Being Asimov, there's no sex
( heck, there are hardly any women ), or violence to speak of, if
that's an issue with you.

For a more contemporary author, I'd suggest nearly anything
by Dan Simmons. Iain Banks has done some great work. Both authors
write multi-layered novels that appeal to both kids and adults.
They do, however, touch on some fairly advanced themes
that might not appeal to an 11 year old.

If he's a really intelligent child, I'd suggest Gene Wolfe's
works, though his novels fall into the "Either you won't be able
to put his books down, or you'll give up after two pages"
catagory. Personally, I'm in the former group. ;-) Wolfe
does have a smattering of adult content, so you may want to
hold off until he's a bit older.

- Rich

"Howard Sage" wrote in message
om...
What are some current interesting sci fi books that a bright 11 yo might
enjoy?
Thanks in advance.


I'd suggest some of the Asimov books, Frank Herbert books, Arthur C Clark
books, Ray Bradbury books, and some of the more science science fiction by
Andre Norton, for the science fiction stuff. For the more fantasy stuff why
not start with the Hobbit, some of the Anne McCaffrey like the Dragon Rider
of Pern series [but stay away from the ones about the Rowan as sex gets
serious play in some of those]. And, just to throw them out the
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Animal Farm by George Orwell, and the old
old but always good 20000 Leagues Under the Sea.

I hope the growing one enjoys them! I'm still stuck on science fiction and
fantasy lo these many years later [we won't mention *just* how many ;-)]

-Aula
--
see my creative works on ebay under http://snurl.com/369o
and on zazzle at http://snurl.com/38oh

"Howard Sage" wrote in message
om...
What are some current interesting sci fi books that a bright 11 yo might
enjoy?
Thanks in advance.
Howard

Though it certainly doesn't qualify as current, as I first read it at about
that age, nearly 40 years ago, one that has always stuck in my mind was a
collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury, the collection entitled, "R" is
for Rocket. Some of the short stories, notably one about men landing on and
getting caught in endless rain on Venus, were made into movies and/or
Twilight Zone or Outer Limits episodes.


--
"There are 10 kinds of people in the world:
those who understand binary numbers and those who don't."
-----------------------------
Byron "Barn" Canfield

"Howard Sage" wrote:

What are some current interesting sci fi books that a bright 11 yo might
enjoy?
Thanks in advance.
Howard

My daughter strongly recommends _There and Back Again_ by Pat Murphy, which
is an outer-space adaptation of _The Hobbit_. Also, some of Orson Scott
Card's books, particularly _Ender's Game_ and the series that follows it,
might be good.

Oh, and don't forget Doug Adams' _Hichhiker_ books -- probably the most
enjoyable science fiction in the known unverse (if you like to laugh,
anyway...)

Peggy

In article ,
(Howard Sage) wrote:

What are some current interesting sci fi books that a bright 11 yo might
enjoy?
Thanks in advance.
Howard


Not current, but LeGuin's "Earthsea Trilogy" is still one of my
favorites for kids this age.

My son started enjoying Orson Scott Card at just a little older than
this: he wasn't crazy about the Alvin Maker series, but loved Ender's
Game and the rest of the stuff in that series.

meh
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

Howard Sage wrote:

What are some current interesting sci fi books that a bright 11 yo might enjoy?
Thanks in advance.
Howard

"Current" is harder (and mostly out of curiosity, why do you specify
that?)...

This Christmas with my extended family, I gave the 11-yr-olds one
classic Heinlein each, and tossed out another half-dozen to be shared
and then left behind in the house that we were renting. They all
got read, with much enthusiasm. In general, Heinlein is fairly iffy
for reasons that will be obvious to anyone who has read a lot of his
stuff, but the early books (Between Planets, Star Beast, Citizen
of the Galaxy, Starman Jones, Have Spacesuit-Will Travel, Red
Planet, Orphans of the Sky, ....) have been scoring with kids that
age for fifty years.

nugatory wrote in message ...
Howard Sage wrote:

What are some current interesting sci fi books that a bright 11 yo might enjoy?
Thanks in advance.
Howard

"Current" is harder (and mostly out of curiosity, why do you specify
that?)...

This Christmas with my extended family, I gave the 11-yr-olds one
classic Heinlein each, and tossed out another half-dozen to be shared
and then left behind in the house that we were renting. They all
got read, with much enthusiasm. In general, Heinlein is fairly iffy
for reasons that will be obvious to anyone who has read a lot of his
stuff, but the early books (Between Planets, Star Beast, Citizen
of the Galaxy, Starman Jones, Have Spacesuit-Will Travel, Red
Planet, Orphans of the Sky, ....) have been scoring with kids that
age for fifty years.

Those weren't just the "early books," they were books specifically
written for a youth audience. Asimov did the same thing, but wrote
the Lucky Starr books under the pseudonym "Paul French" to avoid
confusion.

But I agree, parents should be careful about which Heinlein books
their young person is reading--and there are some, like Tunnel in the
Sky and Time for the Stars which are very much for teens.

i would definitely add Podkayne of Mars to that list, since it is one
of the few with a female role model. Some of his books (Farmer in the
Sky) tend to be a bit sexist.

Since people are lumping fantasy with sci-fi, I have to mention Diane
Duane's "Wizard" books again, which start with "So you want to be a
wizard." We love these on tape for family trips, because both young
and old can enjoy them

My son says that some of Elizabeth Moon's books are aimed at middle
schoolers, but the first one I picked up was a bit mature, so I'll
have to report back on that.

Colleen Kay Porter

In article ,
(Colleen Porter) wrote:

nugatory wrote in message
...
Howard Sage wrote:

What are some current interesting sci fi books that a bright 11 yo might
enjoy?
Thanks in advance.
Howard

"Current" is harder (and mostly out of curiosity, why do you specify
that?)...

This Christmas with my extended family, I gave the 11-yr-olds one
classic Heinlein each, and tossed out another half-dozen to be shared
and then left behind in the house that we were renting. They all
got read, with much enthusiasm. In general, Heinlein is fairly iffy
for reasons that will be obvious to anyone who has read a lot of his
stuff, but the early books (Between Planets, Star Beast, Citizen
of the Galaxy, Starman Jones, Have Spacesuit-Will Travel, Red
Planet, Orphans of the Sky, ....) have been scoring with kids that
age for fifty years.

Those weren't just the "early books," they were books specifically
written for a youth audience. Asimov did the same thing, but wrote
the Lucky Starr books under the pseudonym "Paul French" to avoid
confusion.

But I agree, parents should be careful about which Heinlein books
their young person is reading--and there are some, like Tunnel in the
Sky and Time for the Stars which are very much for teens.

i would definitely add Podkayne of Mars to that list, since it is one
of the few with a female role model. Some of his books (Farmer in the
Sky) tend to be a bit sexist.

That's one of the problems I have with some of the "classics"; I know
they were a product of their times, but many of them ARE sexist -- there
are so few with decent female characters. Women are too often defined
by their relationship to a man (wife/mother/daughter), and too seldom
are interesting characters in themelves. I think these things DO affect
how boys and girls this age see themselves and their possiblilities.
So it could be important to make sure you offer a balance of more recent
stories with decent female leads.

OTOH, they are ripping good stories. I particularly enjoy Heinlein's
collection of short stories, "The Past through Tommorrow", and all of
Asimov's robot stories and The Foundation Trilogy and . . . I have way
too little time to read fiction these days.

meh
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

Colleen Kay Porter wrote:

Since people are lumping fantasy with sci-fi, I have to mention Diane
Duane's "Wizard" books again

They have a lot of science fiction aspects in them, too.

--Helen