Comments on: Youth Fiction Without the Mopey Whining

By: linda seebach

linda seebach — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:11:17 +0000

Young adult science fiction is a rich (and varied) mine of great reading.

The 2009 Locus finalists for Young Adult Novel are:

Little Brother, Cory Doctorow (Tor);
The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins, Bloomsbury);
Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan (Knopf);
Nation, Terry Pratchett (Doubleday UK, HarperCollins);
Zoe’s Tale, John Scalzi (Tor)

The only one I’ve read is Little Brother, but I’m also a fan of Gaiman and Scalzi (and all three of those books are Hugo finalists as well).

Nebula finalists for 2008 were:
Graceling, by Kristin Cashore (Harcourt)

Lamplighter, by D.M. Cornish (Putnam)

Savvy, by Ingrid Law (Dial)

The Adoration of Jenna Fox, by Mary E. Pearson (Henry Holt)

Flora’s Dare: How a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Expand Her Vocabulary, Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and Try to Save Califa from a Shaky Doom (Despite Being Confined to Her Room), by Ysabeau S. Wilce (Harcourt)

By: Middle School Mom

Middle School Mom — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:18:48 +0000

Thank you! I thought I was the only one who couldn’t find anything my 13-year-old son would actually want to read on his summer reading list. These are great suggestions.

By: Youth fiction without the whining - Online Education in America

Youth fiction without the whining - Online Education in America — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:51:20 +0000

[...] 0Youth fiction without the whining Posted in Uncategorized at July 12th, 2009 / // Mopey whining youth fiction got you down? Searching for books that don’t require young readers to stock up on [...]

By: Youth fiction without the whining at Joanne Jacobs

Youth fiction without the whining at Joanne Jacobs — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:43:27 +0000

[...] Mopey whining youth fiction got you down? Searching for books that don’t require young readers to stock up on anti-depressants, Jay Greene found Peak by Roland Smith and Among the Hidden, by Margaret Peterson Haddix. There’s enough mopey whining to appeal to those feelings among adolescents, but there’s also action, politics, self-sacrifice, and triumph. That is, they’re good stories. [...]

By: Aussie T

Aussie T — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:53:53 +0000

Recently published in New York, an Australian novel, Dangerous Days: The Autobiography of a Photjournalist by J. William Turner may suit your needs. It also contains action, politics, self-sacrifice and triumph, plus official corruption and a look at indigenous culture.

By: Jay P. Greene

Jay P. Greene — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:39:48 +0000

These are all great suggestions. Thanks!

And on the difference between well-written and poorly-written literature — the only quick response I can give is that the quality within art presents itself to the consumer. Not everyone may agree, but then again not everyone can recognize great food, great music, or great paintings. Our imperfect ability to preceive it doesn’t mean it’s not there.

Try these books and tell me if you don’t agree that they are solid works of youth fiction.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:04:01 +0000

Heinlein’s “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” is a good libertarian sci-fi read, btw.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:02:33 +0000

But what makes the difference between well written and poorly written literature?

By: allen

allen — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:38:11 +0000

You might want to give some Golden Age science fiction a try like Heinlein’s, and especially Asimov’s adolescent stuff.

It’s a bit dated now what with the vast difference in the view of future technology and its reality but the stories move fast and, as science fiction, require a suspension of belief anyway so why not a future in which computers aren’t trending toward pocket-change prices?

Heinlein – “Rocket Ship Galileo”, “Have Spacesuit – Will Travel”, “Farmer in the Sky”, “Starman Jones” and to end with a bang “Starship Troopers” which is a much better book then a movie which is damning by faint praise. After “Starship Troopers” there’s a distinctly political angle to his writing that might get in the way although the stories are still eminently readable and fast-paced.

Asimov – the whole “Lucky Starr” series. “I, Robot”. The “Foundation” trilogy’s kind of heavy going for an adolescent but worth the effort just because of the vast sweep of its perspective.

The other big names of Sci Fi – Clark, Anderson, Niven, Sturgeon, Paul, Knight, van Vogt – have their adolescent novels but it’s been long enough that I can’t remember specific titles. For text-based comic books there’s E.E. “Doc” Smith.