Science Fiction

Explore new worlds with this sampling of recommended science fiction stories. The list is subdivided by reading level. Please remember that these grade levels are only approximations and are not intended to limit the reader. Books are arranged on the shelves by the author's last name in the sections below.

(A) = Title available in print or on audiobook

J FICTION (Grades 2-3)

The Space People by Eve Bunting
Two sisters are captured by visitors from another planet.  27 pgs.

Next Stop, Earth by William E. Butterworth    
With almost everything and everybody on the space vehicle breaking down as it speeds towards earth, Charley is forced into piloting the thing himself with the help of a computer. 80 pgs.

Aliens for Breakfast  by Jonathan Etra
Finding an intergalactic special agent in his cereal box, Richard joins the extraterrestrial in a fight to save Earth from the Dranes.  62 pgs.  (Also see Aliens for Lunch.)  

Dude, Where’s My Spaceship!  by Dan Greenburg
When their spaceship crash lands on Earth, Ploo is captured by the Army and taken to the mysterious Area 51. While her brothers, Lek and Klatu, try to rescue her, Ploo makes a new friend. Will her new friend help her escape so she can find her brothers and work on getting their spaceship fixed?  81 pgs. (Look for other titles in the Weird Planet series.)

Let Me Off This Spaceship!  by Gery Greer
When Tod & Billy are kidnapped by creatures from outer space, they try to make as much trouble as they can on board ship so that the spaceship captain will take them back to Earth.   54 pgs.  (Look for other titles by this author.)

Kidnapped on Astarr by Joan Lowry Nixon
With a robot’s help, two children search for a relative who has been kidnapped by the king of the planet Astarr and accused of making secret war weapons. 64 pgs.

Wallpaper from Space by Daniel Pinkwater
At bedtime, a young boy enters the outer space-patterned wall- paper in his room and has adventures with a band of space mice. 31 pgs.  (Look for other titles by this author.)

J FICTION (Grades 3-6)

Star Jumper: Journal of a Cardboard Genius  by Frank Asch
Self-proclaimed genius inventor Alex is convinced his little brother Jonathan is evil. That's why Alex decides to build a spaceship out of cardboard, duct tape and odds and ends to leave Earth and get away from him. If only he can keep Jonathan away from his creation until lift-off.  128 pgs.  (Also look for Gravity Buster: Journal #2 of a Cardboard Genius.)

My Brother, The Robot  by Bonny Becker
When his father buys a SIMON Robot, advertised as "the perfect son," Chip decides that he can't compete with his new brother, but in the end, the whole family learns that perfection may not be so great after all. 136 pgs.

Wanna Buy An Alien? by Eve Bunting
For his eleventh birthday, Ben receives an offer of a ride to the planet Cham with an alien named Iku. When the appointed meeting time arrives, he is not sure if he faces an exciting opportunity or horrible danger.  92 pgs.

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Cameron
A mystery man inspires two boys to build a spaceship which takes them to the planet of Basidium to help the Mushroom people. 214 pgs.  (Look for other titles by this author.)

The White Mountains by John Christopher
Young Will Parker and his companions make a perilous journey toward an outpost of freedom where they hope to escape from the ruling Tripods, who capture mature human beings and make them docile, obedient servants.   214 pgs.  (Look for other titles by this author.)

Monsters of Morley Manor by Bruce Coville  (A)
Anthony and his younger sister discover that the monster figures he got in an unusual box at an estate sale are alive, but they have no way of knowing that the "monsters" will lead them on fantastical adventures to other worlds in an effort to try to save Earth. 224 pgs. 

The Dandelion Caper by Gene DeWeese
Things go from strange to bizarre when Calvin & Kathy explore an old mansion and find a yellow cat with unusual powers.  159 pgs.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle   (A)
A brother and sister search for their father who is lost in the 5th dimension.  211 pgs.

The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts
Ten-year-old Katie has always been different from other children. She discovers that she can move objects by thought control and not only does she have unusual powers, but there are others like her. 181 pgs.  

James and the Alien Experiment by Sally Prue
When James is abducted by aliens, he undergoes some drastic changes but although his super powers make him the most popular boy at school, they cause him more problems than he had bargained for.  105 pgs.

Stinker from Space by Pamela Service
An agent of the Sylon Confederacy, fleeing from enemy ships, crash lands on Earth, transfers his mind to the body of a skunk, and enlists the aid of two children in getting back to his home planet. 83 pgs.

My Robot Buddy by Alfred Slote
For his tenth birthday, Jack’s parents get him his very own Robot Buddy. 92 pgs.

Space Race by Sylvia Waugh
When he learns that he and his father must soon leave Earth, eleven-year old Thomas Derwent is upset. But a terrible accident that separates the two of them makes Thomas's situation much worse. 241 pgs.

JH FICTION (Grades 6-8)

Space Dogs by Justin Ball
Commanders Belka and Strelka, of the planet Gersbach, board their dog-shaped spacecraft, travel through the Disturbance in Gravity (D.O.G.), and head for Earth, where they encounter Lucy Buckley and her family as they race to save their own planet from destruction. 260 pgs.

Shanghaied to the Moon by Michael J. Daley
Desperate to become a space pilot like his mother, despite his father's opposition, thirteen-year-old Stewart meets an old spacer who offers him the chance to learn AstroNav during a flight to the moon in the year 2065--and reveals some family secrets along the way. 251 pgs.

Alien Game by Catherine Dexter
As the students at her school become increasingly caught up in the annual game of Elimination, Zoe grows more and more convinced that the new girl in her 8th grade class is not what she seems.    204 pgs.

The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer   (A)
In futuristic Satellite City, fourteen-year-old Cosmo Hill escapes from his abusive orphanage and teams up with three other people who share his unusual ability to see supernatural creatures. 267 pgs.

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer   (A)
In 2194 in Zimbabwe, General Matsika’s three children are kidnapped and put to work in a plastic mine, while three mutant detectives use their special powers to search for them.    311 pgs.

Among The Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
In the future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke, a third child, has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family’s farm, until another “third” convinces him that the government is wrong. 153 pgs.     (Look for other titles in the Shadow Children series.)

Alien Secrets by Annette Curtis Klause
On her journey to the distant planet where her parents are working, twelve-year-old Puck befriends a troubled alien and becomes involved in a dangerous intergalactic murder mystery.   227 pgs.

Can Of Worms  by Kathy Mackel
Bullied and unhappy at school, thirteen-year-old Mike, who has always thought that he might be an alien, sends a distress call into space asking to be rescued from the ignorance and cruelty of life on Earth.  146 pgs.

Life As We Knew It  by Susan Pfeffer      (A)
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.
347 pgs.  (Also look for:  The Dead and the Gone.)

The Virtual War by Gloria Skurzynski
In a future world where global contamination has necessitated limited human contact, three young people with unique genetically engineered abilities are teamed up to wage a war in virtual reality.  152 pgs.   (Look for other titles in the Virtual War Chronologs series.)     

Parasite Pig by William Sleator
Sixteen-year-old Barney, infected by an alien parasite, and his friend Katie are taken to the planet J'koot by extraterrestrials intent on playing the dangerous game known as Interstellar Pig.   212 pgs.  (Look for other titles by this author.)

Fourth World by Kate Thompson
Danny sets out to find his biological mother with the help of his stepbrother and a colorful cast of characters, but when he finally finds her at the Fourth World laboratory, he uncovers the shocking truth about the nature of her experiments.  330 pgs.  (Look for other titles in the The Missing Link Trilogy.)

Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde   (A)
While playing a total immersion virtual reality game of kings and intrigue, fourteen-year-old Giannine learns that demonstrators have damaged the equipment to which she is connected, and she must win the game quickly or be damaged herself.   315 pgs.

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