Worlds of Wonder: Science Fiction for Teens

The City of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau (MS D9425CI)

In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.

Double Helix, by Nancy Werlin (YA W4892DO)

Eighteen-year-old Eli discovers a shocking secret about his life and his family while working for a Nobel Prize-winning scientist whose specialty is genetic engineering.

Dr. Franklin's Island, by Ann Halam (YA H157DR)

When their plane crashes over the Pacific Ocean, three science students are left stranded on a tropical island and then imprisoned by a doctor who is performing horrifying experiments on humans involving the transfer of animal genes.

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, by Nancy Farmer (MS F2336E)

In 2194 in Zimbabwe, General Matsika's three children are kidnapped and put to work in a plastics mine while three mutant detectives use their special powers to search for them.

Earthseed, by Pamela Sargent (MS S2452E)

Before Zoheret and her companions can populate a new planet, they must learn to conquer those same instincts that almost destroyed their ancestors on Earth over one hundred years ago.

Enchantress From the Stars, by Sylvia Louise Engdahl (MS E57EN)

When young Elana unexpectedly joins the team leaving the spaceship to study the planet Andrecia, she becomes an integral part of an adventure involving three very different civilizations, each one centered on the third planet from the star in its own solar system.

Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card. (SF C266EN)
To prevent Earth's destruction by insectile aliens, the best and brightest of Earth's youth must sacrifice their childhoods.

Epic, by Conor Kostick (MS K86856EP)

On New Earth, a world based on a video role-playing game, fourteen-year-old Erik pursuades his friends to aid him in some unusual gambits in order to save Erik's father from exile and safeguard the futures of each of their families.

Eva, by Peter Dickinson. (YA D553EV)
After an automobile accident, Eva's neuron memory is transferred to the body of a chimpanzee.

Feed, by M.T. Anderson (YA A54812FE)

In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble.

The Giver, by Lois Lowry. (MS L9218G)
At age twelve, Jonas discovers the terrible secret about the society in which he lives.

The House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer (MS F2336HO)

In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patrón, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States.

Invitation to the Game, by Monica Hughes. (MS H8945I)
Lisse and seven of her friends think they are invited to play a new role-playing game, but they are actually sent to colonize a distant planet.

The Keeper of the Isis Light, by Monica Hughes (YA H8945KE)

Sixteen-year-old Olwen, who lives alone on the planet Isis with her faithful robot, falls tragically in love with an arrival from earth who is unaware that her natural form has been hidden in a humanlike space suit.

The Kindling, by Jennifer Armstrong and Nancy Butcher (MS A7362KI)

In 2007, a small band of children have joined together in a Florida town, trying to survive in a world where it seems that all the adults have been killed off by a catastrophic virus.

Life As We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer (MS P524LI)

Through journal entries sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.

Peeps, by Scott Westerfeld (YA W5265PE)

Cal Thompson is a carrier of a parasite that causes vampirism, and must hunt down all of the girlfriends he has unknowingly infected.

River Rats, by Carolyn Stevermer. (MS S8489R)
Twenty years after a nuclear war, a band of orphans faces danger living and working on the now-toxic Mississippi.

Singing the Dogstar Blues, by Alison Goodman (YA G6531SI)

In a future Australia, the saucy eighteen-year-old daughter of a famous newscaster and a sperm donor teams up with a hermaphrodite from the planet Choria in a time travel adventure that may significantly change both of their lives.

Taylor Five, by Ann Halam (MS H157TA)

Fourteen-year-old Taylor is still dealing with the fact that she is a clone produced by the same company that funds the Orangutan Reserve which is her home on the island of Borneo, when the Reserve is attacked and she flees with her younger brother and Uncle, the Reserve's mascot.

Tunnel in the Sky, by Robert Heinlein. (MS H468TU)
A ten-day survival test on a hostile planet goes permanent when a supernova jams the matter transmitters and strands the colonist trainees.

Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld (YA W5265UG)

Just before their sixteenth birthdays, when they will will be transformed into beauties whose only job is to have a great time, Tally's best friend runs away and Tally must find her and turn her in, or never become pretty at all.

The Winds of Mars, by H. M. Hoover. (MS H7891W)
When rebel forces strike against her father, the all-powerful president of Mars, Annalyn finds her comfortable life turned upside down.

Z for Zachariah, by Robert C, O'Brien. (MS O138Z)
After a nuclear war, Ann thinks she is the last person living--until she notices smoke from a distant campfire, coming nearer each night.

Updated 12-24-07