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What are some collections or individual science fiction stories that are ideal for a 10 year old, and aren't full of war/rape/dead girlfriends/50s gender roles? Especially looking for stories with radical changes in perspective or which promote empathy for others.
posted by benzenedream on Dec 5, 2020 - 13 answers

My nine-year-old says: "Please ask Metafilter to find me more books like Johnny Tremain." Looking for YA historical fiction/graphic novels set at points between the Mayflower and the American Revolutionary War. [more inside]
posted by MonkeyToes on May 29, 2017 - 37 answers

That is, what is a novel you read later in life that you wish you had come across as a kid or teen? Totally fine to recommend books that weren't yet published when you were young.
posted by HeroZero on Nov 13, 2015 - 38 answers

Please recommend fiction and nonfiction novels which depict folklore and mythology created by children who are free of adult supervision and authority. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Sep 3, 2013 - 16 answers

Help me find a decent set of books for an 8-yr old niece who is heavily into reading (touch wood). Harry Potter, The Hobbit and some other books are not for her at this point. [more inside]
posted by theobserver on Jan 24, 2013 - 68 answers

Calling all librarians! I need a book of short, scary stories suitable for reading aloud to kids. [more inside]
posted by Faint of Butt on Sep 27, 2011 - 14 answers

SciFi for middle schoolers. [more inside]
posted by brynna on Aug 20, 2011 - 42 answers

Robot toys and fiction on the topic of robots / artificial intelligence and learning? [more inside]
posted by groovinkim on Apr 27, 2010 - 15 answers

I want to read fictional and/or true stories about people being put into positions of responsibility unexpectedly for extended periods of time and how they deal with it. [more inside]
posted by reenum on Jan 27, 2009 - 37 answers

Please help me remember the title of a particular fictional, young-adult book from the 80s or maybe 90s. [more inside]
posted by poopdbq on Jul 21, 2007 - 5 answers

Another tired name-that-kid's-book-filter question: purple cover (?) paperback, crazy old lady in the neighborhood hosts kids on a rainy day. Something about an elaborate basement in her house, nothing overtly magical involved so far as I remember, but an air of "magical realism" most definitely abounds. [more inside]
posted by joe lisboa on Feb 28, 2007 - 6 answers

KidsBookFilter: Seriously, this was an awesome book... or, at least, that's the way I remember it! I read it in the mid-70s in the 2nd or 3rd grade probably, so it could have been published in the 60s. It was about the ghost of a cat (or the 9 lives of a cat?) that followed it's human family through several generations. That's all I can remember. That and it was an awesome book! So, no, there's not any [more inside]
posted by catcatwomanman on Sep 20, 2006 - 8 answers