Fullerton Public Library Good Science Fiction Reads for Kids (Interest Level Grades 4-8)

Items may be found in multiple locations. Check the catalog or ask a librarian for assistance.

Fiction

Angleberger, Tom. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. [AR BL 4.7, Pts. 3.0] Sixth-grader Tommy and his friends describe their interactions with a paper finger puppet of Yoda, worn by their weird classmate Dwight, as they try to figure out whether the puppet can really predict the future.

Babbitt, Natalie. Tuck Everlasting. [AR BL 5.0, Pts. 4.0] The Tuck family is confronted with an agonizing situation when they discover that a ten- year-old girl and a malicious stranger now share their secret about a spring whose water prevents one from ever growing any older.

Brown, Peter. The Wild Robot. [AR BL 5.1, Pts. 5.0] Roz the robot discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island with no memory of where she is from or why she is there, and her only hope of survival is to try to learn about her new environment from the island’s hostile inhabitants.

Collins, Suzanne. Gregor the Overlander. (Underland Chronicles #1) [AR BL 4.8, Pts. 8.0] When Gregor and his little sister fall through a grate in the laundry room of their New York apartment building, they tumble into the dark Underland beneath the city, triggering an epic battle involving men, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders.

DuPrau, Jeanne. The City of Ember. (The Books of Ember #1) [AR BL 5.0, Pts. 9.0] Doon and Lina live in an underground world where the lights continually go out, leaving them in darkness. They are determined to save the city.

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Found. (The Missing #1) [AR BL 5.0, Pts. 9.0] When 13-year-olds Jonah and Chip, who are both adopted, learn they were discovered on a plane that appeared out of nowhere, full of babies with no adults on board, they realize they have uncovered a mystery involving time travel and two opposing forces, each trying to repair the fabric of time.

Holm, Jennifer L. The Fourteenth Goldfish. [AR BL 4.1, Pts. 4.0] Ellie's scientist grandfather has discovered a way to reverse aging, and consequently has turned into a teenager--which makes for complicated relationships when he moves in with Ellie and her mother, his daughter.

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Lee, Hyun Ha. Dragon Pearl. [AR BL 5.9, Pts. 13.0] Min, a thirteen-year-old girl with fox-magic, stows away on a battle cruiser and impersonates a cadet in order to solve the mystery of what happened to her older brother in the Thousand World Space Forces.

L’Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time. [AR BL 4.7, Pts. 7.0] Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg's father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government.

Lowry, Lois. The Giver. [AR BL 5.7, Pts. 7.0] Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.

McMann, Lisa. The Unwanteds. (The Unwanteds #1) [AR BL 5.7, Pts. 11.0] In a society that purges thirteen-year-olds who are creative, identical twins Aaron and Alex are separated, one to attend University while the other, supposedly Eliminated, finds himself in a wondrous place where youths hone their abilities and learn magic.

Ross, Joel. The Fog Divers. [AR BL 4.6, Pts. 9.0] In this futuristic high-stakes adventure, humanity clings to cities on the highest mountain peaks above the deadly Fog, and airships transport the pirates of the skies. Daring 13-year- old tetherboy Chess and his salvage crew must face the dark plans of Lord Kodoc and work to save their beloved Mrs. E.

Sachar, Louis. Fuzzy Mud. [AR BL 5.5, Pts. 5.0] Two middle-grade kids take a shortcut home from school and discover what looks like fuzzy mud but is actually a substance with the potential to wreak havoc on the entire world.

Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. [AR BL 4.5, Pts. 6.0] In 1979, as her mother prepares to be a contestant on the The $20,000 PYRAMID, a twelve- year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source that seem to defy the laws of time and space.

Junior High

Angleberger, Tom. Fuzzy. [AR BL 5.2, Pt.s 5.0] When Max (Maxine Zealster) befriends her new robot classmate Fuzzy, she helps him navigate Vanguard Middle School and together they reveal the truth behind the Robot Integration Program.

Farmer, Nancy. The House of the Scorpion. [AR BL 5.1, Pts. 15.0]

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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.

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Among the Hidden. (Shadow Children #1) [AR BL 4.8, Pts. 5.0] In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in insolation and fear on his family’s farm, until another “third” convinces him that the government is wrong. Book 1 of The Shadow Children series.

Lu, Marie. Legend. (Legend Trilogy #1) [AR BL 4.8, Pts. 11.0] In a dark future, when North America has split into two warring nations, fifteen-year-olds Day, a famous criminal, and prodigy June, the brilliant soldier hired to capture him, discover that they have a common enemy.

McDougall, Sophia. Mars Evacuees. [AR BL 6.1, Pts. 13.0] Twelve-year-old Alice Dare is one of 300 seven- to sixteen-year-olds evacuated to Mars to attend school and train as soldiers, safe from the war with Earth's invading aliens, the Morrors, but when all of the adults and robots mysteriously disappear, the youths must survive on their own.

Mull, Brandon. A World Without Heroes. (Beyonders #1) [AR BL 5.1, Pts. 19.0] Thirteen-year-old Jason Walker is transported to a strange world called Lyrian, where he joins Rachel and a few rebels to piece together the Word that can destroy Maldor, the malicious wizard emperor.

Shusterman, Neal and Eric Elfman. Tesla’s Attic. (Accelerati Trilogy #1) [AR BL 6.0, Pts. 11.0] With a plot combining science and the supernatural, four kids are caught up in a dangerous plan concocted by the eccentric inventor, Nikola Tesla.

Fullerton Public Library 353 W. Commonwealth Avenue Fullerton, CA 92832 (714) 738-6333 www.fullertonlibrary.org

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