Sci-fi that they will let her read and that she will love

November 26, 2008 1:02 AM

Mefi, help me find Sci-fi books for a young girl with conservative parents.

I have a very intelligent niece who is 10 yrs old. She loves to read and is asking for books for x-mas. I want to support her love of reading and I would like to introduce her to sci-fi. The major issue here, is that her parents, while sci-fi fans themselves, are very conservative and I would like avoid offending them. If I send a gift/book that they deem inappropriate, they will confiscate it. The major things that I believe that they would be offended by are violence (I mean they would NOT consider Ender's Game appropriate), any sexual content AT ALL, and anything that could be construed as supporting any religion other than christianity. Is there any possibility that I can find a book that is a challenging read for a ten year old (she reads well above her age group) and meets these constraints? If so, please list any books you can think of and why I should choose them.
Thanks.

posted by citizngkar to media & arts (51 comments total)

Heinlein's juveniles. Except briefly in Tunnel In the Sky, religion isn't mentioned.
posted by orthogonality at 1:08 AM on November 26, 2008

A Wrinkle in Time, and the rest of the Time Quartet? Perhaps more science fantasy than science fiction, but it's certainly very close to science fiction, and it's the ideal book for smart girls who are ready for young adult level reading, in my opinion.

It has plenty of Christianity, right down to quoting Bible verses, so that might get it in the door (even if it's not necessarily conservative Christianity). All of it went right over my head when I was a ten-year-old girl, anyway.
posted by adiabat at 1:34 AM on November 26, 2008

If you introduce her to Heinlein, be prepared for your relationship with the parents to take a major hit when she finds her way to "Time Enough for Love" :-)

You might try John Wyndham's "The Chrysalids".
posted by flabdablet at 1:40 AM on November 26, 2008

That's a doozy, as sci-fi/fant usually explores alternate modes of thinking.

Perhaps Pratchett's "The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents". I'd suggest Pratchett's other children books but they have witches in them so unsure...

Maybe The City of Ember (2003), The People of Sparks (2004) and The Prophet of Yonwood (2006), series. I read the first and found it... ok, pretty minimal violence no real religion except in passing.

Thee is of course always the Narnia books
posted by edgeways at 1:45 AM on November 26, 2008

2nding "A Wrinkle in Time." L'Engle is devoutly Christian, and those are great books. I read them when I was 11. C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy would be another unobjectionable choice, but maybe still a little advanced.

Maybe something like Asimov's robot short stories? Clever, but I don't remember much in the way of sex or violence. Bradbury's short stories, too, for that matter.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 1:49 AM on November 26, 2008

3rding "A Wrinkle in Time." One of my all-time favorites at that age and unlikely to offend Christians since it verges on preaching here and there...

Plus, the first sentence in the book is "It was a dark and stormy night." You can't beat that.
posted by mmoncur at 2:07 AM on November 26, 2008

The Space Demons Trilogy by Gillian Rubinstein was one of my favourite fantasy/sci-fi books for a long time - there is nothing offensive about them, they are about a group of kids who get lost inside the ultimate video game and have to find their way out. They appear to be available on amazon.
posted by cholly at 2:29 AM on November 26, 2008

No to C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy. When I was her age, growing up in a fundamentalist church, they freaked me out because of violence and some nudity (admittedly ridiculous). I love them now though.
posted by melissam at 2:42 AM on November 26, 2008

Why don't you ask them for ideas? If they're sci-fi fans they should be aware of some kind of books that they would give her. I'd definitely run any ideas past them before making the present, to avoid confiscation.
posted by jacalata at 2:56 AM on November 26, 2008

nthing A Wrinkle in Time. Also, for balance, I really would recommend the His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman. It's critical of religion, but not in any overt anti-Christianity way. It's a very thoughtful discussion of what it means to have free will. Also, the books are just really awesome.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 3:11 AM on November 26, 2008

Asimov
posted by pompomtom at 3:20 AM on November 26, 2008

Also, His Dark Materials is very overtly anti-Christian, in the opinion of some religious people (and my opinion, although I'm not religious).
posted by jacalata at 3:29 AM on November 26, 2008

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
The Phantom Tollbooth (although that might be beneath her)
the Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula K LeGuin might be a little to far ahead
posted by plinth at 3:49 AM on November 26, 2008

seconding a call to stay away from His Dark Materials! I love them to death, but I can't think of anything else that would offend her parents more!
posted by gregvr at 4:14 AM on November 26, 2008

Ender's Game is very good gateway sci-fi and the author is, famously, a wacko conservative. But the book doesn't express his wacko-ness and is a favorite among both my teenage and college-age students.
posted by gerryblog at 4:34 AM on November 26, 2008

Oh, I see that's ruled out in your question. I'd hoped you might be able to smuggle it in through Card's conservatism.

Asimov might be your best bet. His books (Robot series, Foundation series) frequently lack either sex or violence.
posted by gerryblog at 4:36 AM on November 26, 2008

As has been suggested, most of Asimov is pretty devoid of sex and violence; also try John Christopher's Tripods series.
posted by Johnny Assay at 4:51 AM on November 26, 2008

...Forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but -- have you considered asking what kind of books she may want to read instead? Introducing a new genre to someone is a great thing, but your book on sci-fi, no matter how carefully chosen, is just going to go unread if she's hip deep in her "horses yaaaaaay!" phase and thus really would have preferred Misty Of Chincoteague instead anyway.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:55 AM on November 26, 2008 [3 favorites has favorites]

Nthing L'Engle. Your niece is probably at the best age for those books, though you still have to be careful. Some of them--like Many Waters--do have sexual content. But A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind at the Door, and A Swiftly Tilting Planet are all excellent choices.

Lewis's Space Trilogy should definitely be on your list, and her parents will have a hard time objecting, cause, you know, it's Lewis. but I'd wait a few years all the same. The books were not written for children, unlike the Narnia series, and there's a lot that will probably just go straight over her head. Lewis deals with some desires that are very much adult, not sexual mind you, but adult nonetheless. I'd wait until she's at least 16 or so.

Heinlein's juveniles are probably fair game, though you will have to do a little picking and choosing. Good choices include: Space Cadet, Red Planet, Starman Jones, The Star Beast, Have Spacesuit, Will Travel, etc. Starship Troopers, though one of his best, would seem to be off the table.

I'd like to recommend Niven and Pournelle's Mote in God's Eye, but there is a bit of violence there, so you might want to run it by her parents first. They'll get a kick out of it even if they don't pass it on to her.

You can probably get away with most Asimov.

But think outside the box. H. G. Wells, assuming she can put up with the rather baroque writing style, should be perfect. Cordwainer Smith should fit the bill as well. Pick up any genre short fiction collection from before 1965 and you should have a potential goldmine. What violence there is is pretty clinical--unlike Card, whose violence is pretty visceral--and sex, where present at all, is always offstage. Used bookstores should be chock full of these things.
posted by valkyryn at 5:07 AM on November 26, 2008

Emphatically seconding C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy. I'll be contrarian and say that though they are written for adults, I loved reading "adult" books as a child then coming back to them years later and discovering the layers of meaning I'd missed.
posted by socratic at 6:07 AM on November 26, 2008

A book I asked about a while back (look at my AskMe history, I would but I'm on my blackberry) is "The Throne Of The Gods". It is about the human colonization of the galaxy by the catholic holy see and concerns the abduction and veneration of the shroud of Turin. You would probably have to get a used copy but its a fun and fascinating book.
posted by parmanparman at 6:23 AM on November 26, 2008

Anything by Monica Hughes. Check out Invitation to the Game
posted by acro at 6:34 AM on November 26, 2008

Diane Duane's Young Wizards and/or Feline Wizardry series. The heroes are called wizards, but they're really more like magical tech support for the universe, particularly the cats. Quality female characters, all very chaste (only one of them ever kisses a boy, AFAIK, and it's not even the boy-crazy one). While there are mortally dangerous situations, the series as a whole overwhelmingly resolves conflicts through problem-solving rather than violence. And if your niece doesn't get a kick out of the method by which Nita discovers wizardry...

BTW, I'd recommend these to all who're pushing vigorously for L'Engle as well. Meg Murry, YW's Nita Callahan, and Little Women's Jo March were my role models growing up.
posted by vaghjar at 6:36 AM on November 26, 2008

Two words: I, Robot.

I agree with Pater Aletheias, I don't remember there being any sex or an overabundance violence in it.

I read this as a kid and it really inspired me to get into robotics. I even did a study of it later in highschool around the time when the movie of the same name came out.

I now am into my second year of my Mechatronics Engineering (robotics is the short answer) program at university.
posted by WilliamWallace at 6:41 AM on November 26, 2008

Recommending the following books that I read either at the same age or younger (and I am making the assumption there was not much violence/sex):

Nthing A wrinkle in Time.

Flowers for Algernon I was given a short story version of this story in 2nd or 3rd grade so I am assuming the teacher would not hand out material that had the content that you feel would offend parents. The story was phenomenal story and a great intro to scifi.

"The Time Machine" by HG Wells. Read this at the same time as "The Flowers for Algernon" and making the assumption my parents would have taken it away if it had a lot of violence/sexual content. As a child I was enamored by the theoretical concepts of time travel that the author tried to explain in the text (as an adult I would have missed this material and skimmed right over it).

Books that I have encountered as an adult that I think are appropriate for children:

"The Giver" by Louis Lowry This is a book written for children but explores the concept of a dystopia.

Finally, this book, "Icarus at the Edge of Time", was just written by Brian Greene and for children. It is the myth of Icarus but rewritten in modern times and introduces concepts such as the bending of space and time. There is a video on the amazon webpage discussijng the book a bit more.

Good luck.
posted by Wolfster at 6:48 AM on November 26, 2008

Obviously L'Engle.

His Dark Materials isn't just anti-Christian to some - it was explicitly written as an anti-Narnia, and it positively portrays budding teen sexuality to boot.

I loved Lloyd Alexander, but my memory's a little too hazy to pick out whether the violence would be too much for your criteria.

I'd also encourage you to forget about the age group thing as much as you can, and just get her good SF. My reading level exploded around that age in large part because I got incredibly bored with "young adult" novels and started mostly reading "adult" books. Sure, plenty flew over my head, but I headed straight into Vernor Vinge, Roger Zelazny, Kim Robinson, Larry Niven, Poul Anderson... at least for myself, it was an amazing thing for me that I just jumped straight into the 'deep' end and had to learn to swim.
posted by Tomorrowful at 7:02 AM on November 26, 2008

Nthing The Giver. It's a beautiful book for all ages. It became a trilogy, with Gathering Blue and The Messenger. The second and third book aren't as powerful, but Lowry writes lovely prose.

Connie Willis has written some YA stuff, which I did not like nearly as much as her regular novels, but the longer works have violence and sex.
posted by JustKeepSwimming at 7:27 AM on November 26, 2008

Building on Wolfster's suggestion of The Time Machine, I would suggest looking at some Jules Verne, I read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea around that age, as well as a few of his other works.
posted by borkencode at 7:31 AM on November 26, 2008

Careful with the Asimov - most of his stuff is sex-free, and particularly his short stories, but there are exceptions. Sexuality is really important in the Caves of Steel/Robots of Dawn/something trilogy, and I think it comes up now and then in Bicentennial Man and a few others.

I suppose you'd have to specifically vet anything you chose, though. Which is why a zero-tolerance "no sex" policy doesn't work ... my grandmother gave me several books when I was a kid with content I suspect she'd forgotten about, and I turned out okay.

Mostly. For some values of okay.
posted by spaceman_spiff at 7:43 AM on November 26, 2008

The time traveler's wife is perfect female sci-fi fodder without letting them realise they are reading sci-fi.

I heard so many times from non-sci-fi fans after reading this book about how interesting the concepts were and how it made them think. I respond with 'welcome to the world of sci-fi', Dr Who has been using the same principles for over 40 years now :-)
posted by lamby at 7:45 AM on November 26, 2008

huh, that reminds me - what about all those Doctor Who books? I absolutely loved them as a kid. There's death &c, but no sex that I remember.
posted by jacalata at 7:57 AM on November 26, 2008

I'm not sure if it's the appropriate reading level for an advanced 10-year-old, but I'm recommending Philip Reeve's Hungry City Chronicles series (link to the first book @ Powell's) to everyone I know right now, kids and adults alike.

It's fun young reader steampunk fiction with a feel similar to that of the Harry Potter books: lots of intrigue, young adventurers navigating through an adult world, colorful characters, vivid settings, and enough novelty and depth to keep adult readers interested. There's very limited violence, and it's all appropriate for the story and non-gratuitous. As for sexuality, there are the usual pre-teen crushes and bewilderment, but nothing even remotely explicit.

Try it for yourself and see what you think.

(And yes, Bradbury, though I wouldn't start with The October Country. ;) )
posted by fracas at 8:33 AM on November 26, 2008

This is a tough one. Although many sci-fi/fantasy authors have individual books written for (or appropriate for) the young adult reader which have no risque content, it's more than likely that they have other young adult fiction which does. Here are a few (fantasy) authors for whom I can give a generic non-risque guarantee - as a plus, they are also age appropriate for the ten year old audience!

Lloyd Alexander - specifically, try the Chronicles of Prydain series, the Vesper Holly series (as an added bonus, you have a strong female lead!). I absolutely LOVED both series at around age 10-12.

Laurence Yep - a terrific Chinese-American author who wrote a number of young adult fantasy novels with a contemporary take on Chinese mythology. Specifically, try the Dragon series.

Diana Wynne Jones - famous children's fantasy author, and one your niece may already be reading.

Science fiction authors are a bit tougher. Most of the classic sci fi from Andre Norton et al. would be free of risque content, but probably boring to a ten year old. Maybe William Sleator? I have fond memories of Interstellar Pig, but to be honest can't remember if there were any potentially objectionable elements.
posted by Wavelet at 8:36 AM on November 26, 2008

Check out some of Daniel Pinkwater's stuff for young readers.
posted by Good Brain at 8:46 AM on November 26, 2008

Wow. I love the response I am getting. I posted this right before going to bed last night and I wake up and I am delighted. Allow me to address some questions.

...Forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but -- have you considered asking what kind of books she may want to read instead?
Of course I have and believe me she isn't into horses. She is very interested in sci-fi via the few movies that her parents have allowed her to watch, i.e. Star Wars, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and some others. She, however, isn't reading sci-fi yet and she has very broad tastes when it comes to literature. I would like to introduce her to something that I enjoyed being introduced to as a child. The chances that she won't read or at least attempt to read what I gift to her are almost nil.

Why don't you ask them for ideas? If they're sci-fi fans they should be aware of some kind of books that they would give her. I'd definitely run any ideas past them before making the present, to avoid confiscation.


Oh, I definitely plan to run any ideas past them before buying. The reason I am not asking them is that I would like suggestions from people who actually read sci-fi growing up. They did not. They are great people and all, and they aren't hyper-conservative, I mean they let her read the Harry Potter books (not the later ones yet). I am not really trying to sneak anything under the radar so much as present her with some books that would broaden her horizon and still be acceptable to her parents whom I love and respect, even if I don't share their views.

So far I am definitely going to be getting her A Wrinkle in Time. Thanks for that suggestion. Also considering C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy.
I am a little scared of Flowers for Algernon because when I read this as a child, I cried my eyes out, and I don't want to upset her or her parents by causing that. Although it is a great piece of sci-fi that I in no way regret reading.

Thanks for all the suggestions and please keep them coming. I will be book marking this for later book purchases, if the sci-fi thing goes over as well as I anticipate.
posted by citizngkar at 9:25 AM on November 26, 2008

Pinkwater wouldn't have occurred to me, but he's a great choice — he's written a lot of specifically young-adult stuff, and while he isn't usually considered sci-fi, he's got a lot of that science fiction weirdness. I'd recommend Lizard Music, which was my favorite when I was that age.

I'll warn you, though, to steer away from Young Adults, which despite the name is totally inappropriate. It's a parody of Judy Blume-style Serious Young Adult Books, and it's comically lewd and filthy.

The other one that came to mind is China Mieville's Un Lun Dun. It's a modern take on the whole Wonderland/Narnia thing, there's no sex and no religion (unless the usual "kid who's prophesied to save the world" plot device counts as religion), and it's smart.

(And what about Le Guinn's children's books? Catwings is too young, and Very Far Away from Anywhere Else is too old — although you should definitely give her a copy in another four or five years. I haven't read the Annals of the Western Shore series, but it looks like it might be perfect. Can anyone vouch for it?)
posted by nebulawindphone at 9:30 AM on November 26, 2008

Flowers for Algernon was surprisingly deep. I mean, yeah, it made me bawl a bit, but so did the Giver, and that was also wonderful. They're pretty much the only books I read in elementary school that I still think are legitimately good books.

I want to recommend Ursula K LeGuin, I can't remember much by way of violence or sex from the Wizard of Earthsea book(s?) but that doesn't mean it isn't there.

As someone else who went straight past the YA section and to the REAL books, I'd say don't worry too much about 'young adult' or otherwise as long as it fits the criteria you're looking for on sex/violence. And you probably want to read it yourself before you give it to her, whether it's supposedly YA or not.
posted by Lady Li at 10:06 AM on November 26, 2008

Of course I have and believe me she isn't into horses. She is very interested in sci-fi via the few movies that her parents have allowed her to watch, i.e. Star Wars, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and some others.

Forgive me -- what I meant by that was that I didn't get the sense that you knew what her interests were and were just sort of thrusting something upon her, but if you know she likes sci-fi already anyway, then golden.

....Well, if she's watched Hitchhikers, that's certainly one idea right there. Or -- hey, you know those old "choose your own adventure" books? They're still kicking around, and are fairly inexpensive -- and pitched towards kids, so there probably wouldn't be anything too objectionable. A couple of the sci-fi themed ones of those may also be a lot of fun. (a bit thin on the literary content, but they may make for good stocking-stuffer kind of things.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:36 AM on November 26, 2008

Oh, and nthing Pinkwater's Lizard Music, which I also remember reading at that age and liking a lot.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:36 AM on November 26, 2008

The time traveler's wife is perfect female sci-fi fodder

As I recall, The Time Traveler's Wife has some pretty sexual things in it. There's also lots of violence and theft. I doubt that would pass the parents' test.
posted by willnot at 10:42 AM on November 26, 2008

The Giver, suggested above, is lovely, but I remember some objections from conservative parents of other students when we read it in elementary school. I think there might be some very oblique references to sexuality. Proceed with some caution.
posted by doift at 10:57 AM on November 26, 2008

More fantasy than sf, but maybe Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series. It sparks occasional allegations of paganism (what with, ok, having some Celtic deities feature here and there) but Will Stanton is a nice Christian boy who doesn't stop going to carol services just because he develops magical powers. Also recently made into a film, but apparently they took out all the Arthurian Legend bits; way to miss the point. No sex and I'm fairly sure the violence doesn't get much above Mild Peril. (And, along with the Earthsea books and LotR, it was my favouritest thing ever at that age).
posted by Lebannen at 12:10 PM on November 26, 2008

I just re-read The Time-Traveler's Wife and its got a lot of sexual activity...I would avoid that one--her parents would definitely not approve.

On top of other suggestions, I'll also recommend the Scott Westerfield books--"Uglies" "Pretties" "Specials" and "Extras". I can't remember anything overtly sexual or anti-Christian in them. And since its a series, you could get the first one for her and if she likes it you've got a good gifts the next time you need them.

Also the Ember series--I think the first one is "The City of Ember". Post-apocolyptic story. I think there was just a movie but I don't think it was very good. This is another series--I think there are four books total.
posted by Mimzy at 12:53 PM on November 26, 2008

NO on Time Traveler's Wife. Nookie is definitely in it.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:11 PM on November 26, 2008

Jane Yolen has written some exceptional science fiction/fantasy books for children and young adults. I read it before LeGuin, Anne McCaffrey, Asimov, McKillip etc. Some of those others are great, but tend to include a few more adult themes (may be better in another year). You might want to start with the merlin series, or she has some that are historical fiction. Her dragon series was also good, but going from another angle may be easier to get accepted as ok.

Lloyd Alexander I also read in gradeschool (fairly sheltered) and it didn't have anything that I remember being shocking other than one of the sidekicks having a habit of stealing stuff. Redwall (and the series) by Brian Jacques is also nice and very young adult friendly.

If she hasn't read them, I'd highly recommend Little Women and Secret Garden. They aren't sci-fi, but definitely make you think and appreciate reading. (You can also search in amazon's list mania for lists like 'you'd rather save the prince than wait to be rescued'. Alternative fairy tales are another great angle to gently introduce the sci-fi/fantasy angle.
posted by ejaned8 at 1:39 PM on November 26, 2008

My total number one pick for this is as follows: Adam Rex has a book out called The True Meaning of Smekday, and it's just all around fun, a alien invasion/buddy novel with a cross country roadtrip and a good head on its shoulders. There's a girl protagonist (Her real name is Gratuity, but people call her Tip , some big picture ideas, and it has a friendlyness to it. But don't take my word for it. Take these 10 Reasons, too. See! They're funny!

Also, if her parents are super conservative, assume that she's already been exposed to the classics. If she's 10, there's a whole great world of middle reader and young adult novels coming out right now, so get something fresh! The Uglies/Pretties series could work for her, but I usually try those out on girls who *don't* want to read sci-fi. The Jane Yolen dragon series might be a little old/violent. Wrinkle in Time stuff would work, but also, if she's attending any sort of religious school, or if they have a church library, those books might already be there. City of Ember and the following books in that series are all great, and book number two has a really good look at the immigration issue.
posted by redsparkler at 7:17 PM on November 26, 2008

Diane Duane's Young Wizards series, as others have said, is excellent. Very smart, very modern, no sex and very little violence as far as I remember.
posted by Cygnet at 12:38 PM on November 28, 2008

Jeez I know this is so cliche but I really liked The Hobbit at that age and the rest of the trilogy as it became available in the lending libraries of the marinas we stopped at
posted by Redhush at 8:11 PM on November 30, 2008

John Wyndham most definitely - but I would recommend Chocky first up, then The Triffids, The Chrysalids and Midwich Cuckoos (but the latter might be contentious due to unexplained pregnancies and associated questions). And n-thing L'Engle - you can't go wrong with A Wrinkle in Time.
posted by goo at 7:43 PM on December 6, 2008

Oops, and that would be Day of the Triffids, excuse me.
posted by goo at 9:36 PM on December 6, 2008

Also - the Tomorrow series by John Marsden. Tomorrow, When The War Began, The Dead of the Night and The Third Day, The Frost and the rest aren't strictly sci-fi, but are very well-done children's/ YA speculative fiction. Highly recommended.
posted by goo at 11:49 PM on December 6, 2008