YA-SF recs
October 20, 2019 9:12 AM Subscribe
Please recommend YA Science Fiction novels, comics and/or graphic novels . LGBTQ+ themes are welcome, though not mandatory.
The YA-ness should be on the younger end of the range.
Avoid sex and any sort of ecchi.
The YA-ness should be on the younger end of the range.
Avoid sex and any sort of ecchi.
I just really enjoyed One Trick Pony, which is reviewed as 8+.
A post-apocalyptic girl finds an ancient robot pony and (spoiler) they save the world.
posted by SaltySalticid at 10:15 AM on October 20, 2019
A post-apocalyptic girl finds an ancient robot pony and (spoiler) they save the world.
posted by SaltySalticid at 10:15 AM on October 20, 2019
The younger end of YA is often called Middle Grade or MG.
A Wrinkle in Time is great and it has sequels.
The Leviathan trilogy by Scott Westerfeld is steampunk and alt-history as well as having scifi elements.
The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
Ender's Game is often on MG Scifi lists, so I just want to warn you in case you are not aware, the author Orson Scott Card is not LGBT friendly at all.
posted by soelo at 10:51 AM on October 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
A Wrinkle in Time is great and it has sequels.
The Leviathan trilogy by Scott Westerfeld is steampunk and alt-history as well as having scifi elements.
The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
Ender's Game is often on MG Scifi lists, so I just want to warn you in case you are not aware, the author Orson Scott Card is not LGBT friendly at all.
posted by soelo at 10:51 AM on October 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (climate scifi) is rated 13+.
posted by pjenks at 11:00 AM on October 20, 2019
posted by pjenks at 11:00 AM on October 20, 2019
It’s sort of SF/alternate universe/ mixed fantasy/magic, but I would suggest Nimona.
posted by oflinkey at 12:48 PM on October 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by oflinkey at 12:48 PM on October 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
I just read two that might qualify! Both are space horror, so they are a little creepy. Contagion and Salvation Day. Both involve travels on a space vessel who do science who find out that the place they are heading is not in fact a good place to go because they will become infected in some way if they aren’t careful.
Both have LGBT characters but neither was really had much romance - the LGBT references are both kind of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it.
posted by firei at 4:18 PM on October 20, 2019
Both have LGBT characters but neither was really had much romance - the LGBT references are both kind of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it.
posted by firei at 4:18 PM on October 20, 2019
Brandon Sanderson's The Reckoners Trilogy is pretty awesome.
posted by nenequesadilla at 4:33 PM on October 20, 2019
posted by nenequesadilla at 4:33 PM on October 20, 2019
I'm not certain of the recommended age range of this series (also, IMO, you can read what you want when you want, YA label or not) but the Imperial Radch Trilogy is one of my favorite sci-fi series.
You can read the first one and stop there if you want no problem, but the other two are great as well.
The author plays with the concept of gender in a way that's interesting but isn't overbearing.
posted by lalunamel at 6:18 PM on October 20, 2019
You can read the first one and stop there if you want no problem, but the other two are great as well.
The author plays with the concept of gender in a way that's interesting but isn't overbearing.
posted by lalunamel at 6:18 PM on October 20, 2019
Zita the Space Girl is a very fun graphic novel with a pre-teen lead. It has multiple sequels.
posted by suelac at 7:22 PM on October 20, 2019
posted by suelac at 7:22 PM on October 20, 2019
Feed is a prescient YA novel about a dystopian, cyberpunk, hyper-consumerist future (basically a documentary of our times).
Diana Wynne Jones has a number of science fiction titles, usually with fantasy elements woven in. Hexwood is one of the most surreal novels I've ever read. I'm not sure what else to say about it, except that everyone should read it.
I've only read a bit of Philip Reeve, but he writes incredibly imaginative far-future adventure novels.
posted by toastedcheese at 7:30 PM on October 20, 2019
Diana Wynne Jones has a number of science fiction titles, usually with fantasy elements woven in. Hexwood is one of the most surreal novels I've ever read. I'm not sure what else to say about it, except that everyone should read it.
I've only read a bit of Philip Reeve, but he writes incredibly imaginative far-future adventure novels.
posted by toastedcheese at 7:30 PM on October 20, 2019
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, might be a little too much on the relationship sides for YA perhaps?
posted by nickggully at 8:49 PM on October 20, 2019
posted by nickggully at 8:49 PM on October 20, 2019
Great books, series, and graphic novels with LGBTQ+ content:
The Prisoners of Peace duology (The Scorpion Rules, etc.) by Erin Bow.
The Adaptation duology by Malinda Lo.
On A Sunbeam by Tillie Walden.
The Abyss Surrounds Us duology by Emily Skrutskie.
Other good books and series:
The Hungry City Chronicles (Mortal Engines, etc.) by Philip Reeve. (This does develop some LGBTQ+ content late in the "Fever Crumb" prequel series.)
The Uglies series (Uglies, etc.) by Scott Westerfeld.
The Starglass duology by MeFi's Own Phoebe North.
The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson.
What else ...
I liked Pivot Point by Kasie West, but not the sequel so much.
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff is excellent but a bit grim.
Same with the Tomorrow series (Tomorrow When The War Began, etc.), by John Marsden.
The Pit Dragon Chronicles (Dragon's Blood, etc.) by Jane Yolen are classics, although they get ... strange starting around book 3. There is no explicit sex, but it does get mentioned.
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey was pretty good; haven't read the sequels.
The Wrinkle In Time series by Madeleine L'Engle is good, although it can get very strange.
The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer aren't bad.
The Pern series by Anne McCaffrey are technically sci-fi although they read as fantasy; if you want to avoid sex and any sort of ecchi, though, stick to the Harper Hall books (e.g. Dragonsong and Dragonsinger).
posted by kyrademon at 4:25 AM on October 21, 2019
The Prisoners of Peace duology (The Scorpion Rules, etc.) by Erin Bow.
The Adaptation duology by Malinda Lo.
On A Sunbeam by Tillie Walden.
The Abyss Surrounds Us duology by Emily Skrutskie.
Other good books and series:
The Hungry City Chronicles (Mortal Engines, etc.) by Philip Reeve. (This does develop some LGBTQ+ content late in the "Fever Crumb" prequel series.)
The Uglies series (Uglies, etc.) by Scott Westerfeld.
The Starglass duology by MeFi's Own Phoebe North.
The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson.
What else ...
I liked Pivot Point by Kasie West, but not the sequel so much.
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff is excellent but a bit grim.
Same with the Tomorrow series (Tomorrow When The War Began, etc.), by John Marsden.
The Pit Dragon Chronicles (Dragon's Blood, etc.) by Jane Yolen are classics, although they get ... strange starting around book 3. There is no explicit sex, but it does get mentioned.
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey was pretty good; haven't read the sequels.
The Wrinkle In Time series by Madeleine L'Engle is good, although it can get very strange.
The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer aren't bad.
The Pern series by Anne McCaffrey are technically sci-fi although they read as fantasy; if you want to avoid sex and any sort of ecchi, though, stick to the Harper Hall books (e.g. Dragonsong and Dragonsinger).
posted by kyrademon at 4:25 AM on October 21, 2019
I like the author William Sleator for this kind of book. "The Boy Who Reversed Himself" is a great place to start. Also "Singularity," "The Duplicate," and "Interstellar Pig" are great.
posted by tacodave at 4:48 PM on October 21, 2019
posted by tacodave at 4:48 PM on October 21, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by gnat at 9:36 AM on October 20, 2019