Other-Worldly Reading: Teen Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Superhero Fiction
Weetzie Bat, by Francesca Lia Block
Weetzie Bat lived in a fairy-tale land of glitter, glitz, and
coolness. She had a bleached-blonde flat-top and pink sunglasses,
and cruised around town with her best friend Dirk and her Slinkster
Dog pooch in a '55 Pontiac named Jerry. But still, something was
missing. She wished for a Duck for Dirk and a Secret Agent Lover
Man for herself. Weetzie Bat is the story of what happened when
those wishes came true.
(Other titles in the Weetzie Bat series are Witch Baby, Cherokee
Bat and the Goat Guys, Missing Angel Juan, and Baby Be-Bop.)
Astro City: Life in the Big City, by Kurt Busiek
The world of Astro City is one in which superheroes live, work,
and relax, keeping the other inhabitants of their city safe from
all manners of natural and unnatural disasters. It’s a superhero
story without the glitz and melodrama, one full of rich characters
in an unusual world.
Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card
At six years old, Ender is already a military genius. Despite
being the youngest child to ever attend Battle School, he must
lead his fellow students through the Battle School games meant
to prepare them for the war against the Buggers.
(Ender’s Game is followed by three other titles: Speaker
for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind. The companion
books, the Shadow series, are Ender’s Shadow, Shadow of
the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, and Shadow of the Giant.)
Inkheart, Cornelia Funke
On a rainy night, Meggie is startled and worried at the sight
of a stranger standing in the road outside their house. Much to
her surprise, though, he is not a stranger to her father, Mo—he
is Dustfinger, a man Mo pulled into this world from a story, ten
years earlier. But before Meggie has time to ask any questions,
she and Mo are caught up in an adventure they’ve only been
able to read about.
(Meggie’s story continues in Inkspell.)
Sandman : Preludes and Nocturnes, by Neil Gaiman
The Endless are above mortals, above the pantheons, above everything.
Sandman is the story of one of the Endless (Dream), his interactions
with mortals, and the choices he makes that make him more human
than anyone would expect.
A Wizard of Earthsea , by Ursula K. LeGuin
Ged was the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, but once he was
called Sparrowhawk, a reckless youth, hungry for power and knowledge,
who tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow
upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered
the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed
death's threshold to restore the balance.
(Other titles in the Earthsea series are The Tombs of Atuan, The
Farthest Shore, Tehanu, Tales of Earthsea, and The Other Wind.
Soulwind, by Scott Morse
Soulwind is the story of a sword—or more specifically, the
story of the people entrusted to keep the sword safe and bring
it where it needs to be. The five volumes move backwards and forwards
through time and incorporate aspects of Buddhism, philosophy,
science fiction, and Celtic myth along the way.
Sabriel, by Garth Nix
On learning of her father’s disappearance, 18-year-old Sabriel
must step into a role she’s been preparing for her whole
life: that of the Abhorsen, a powerful mage responsible for keeping
the dead in Death. With the help of Mogget, her father’s
bound free-magic cat, and Touchstone, the young charter mage,
Sabriel struggles to rescue her father and defeat the evil that
has trapped him in Death.
(Nix continues Sabriel’s story in two other books: Lirael
and Abhorsen.)
Z for Zachariah, by Robert C. O’Brien
Following a nuclear war, 16-year-old Ann Burden learns to survive
alone in the untouched valley—until the day a stranger wearing
a radiation-proof suit comes over the hill. When the stranger
makes a crucial mistake, Ann nurses him back to health—making
a crucial mistake of her own.
Eragon, by Christopher Paolini
When Eragon finds an unusual stone while hunting, he thinks his
family’s troubles are over. But when Eragon learns his destiny
as a legendary Dragon Rider, he realizes that his troubles are
just beginning. In the first part of a trilogy that takes him
across the world, he encounters dwarves, elves, fellow Riders—and
all manners of creatures who want him dead.
(Follow the next leg of Eragon’s journey in Eldest.)
The Golden Compass, by Phillip Pullman
Lyra is an orphan living at Jordan College, until the day she
witnesses an assassination attempt on her uncle and overhears
a discussion of Dust. From that point on, she and her daemon Pantalaimon
are caught up in a series of troubles that take them from Oxford
to the far north, along the way encountering witches, armored
bears, and a beautiful woman with a golden monkey daemon.
(The story continues in The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass,
books two and three of His Dark Materials.)
Starman : Sins of the Father, by James Robinson
Jack Knight never wanted to be a superhero. But now that his brother
has been killed and his father has been attacked, does he have
a choice in the matter? Starman is a superhero without the camp,
and some of the best the genre has to offer.
Heir Apparen, by Vivian Vande Velde
Giannine was very eager to try out the new total-immersion virtual-reality
game Heir Apparent. The Citizens to Protect Our Children were
very eager to prevent anyone from doing so. But when the CPOC’s
attack on the building locks Giannine into her plugged-in state,
the only way out is to win the game. All she needs to do is get
the ring, find the treasure, and defeat the man-eating dragon—but
each wrong move sends her back to the beginning, and the equipment
plugged into her brain is growing more unstable by the minute.
--- top ^
