“Code Orange,” by Caroline B. Cooney

“Code Orange,” by Caroline B. Cooney is a thrilling science fiction mystery about a boy whose science project on infectious disease takes a deadly turn.

Mitty Blake has always lived a rather carefree life. He is interested in just two things: listening to music and Olivia, a girl in his advanced science class. But listening to his iPod during science class won’t help Mitty to keep his science grade up. And if Mitty doesn’t get an upcoming term paper turned in he will be dropped from the class, which will undoubtedly derail his budding romance with Olivia.

Rather unwillingly Mitty decides to start working on his science term paper. Read the rest »

“The Giver,” by Lois Lowry

“The Giver,” by Lois Lowry is a Newberry Award Medal science fiction novel about a boy living in a Utopian community of the future. It is designed to be read in parallel with “Gathering Blue” and “Messenger.”

Twelve-year-old Jonas lives in a world that is seemingly perfect. There is no conflict, war, poverty or suffering. Everyone seems to be happy, respecting each other and working together. Everyone is employed, working special jobs chosen by elders who have observed them for years to determine their strengths.

In Jonas community there is a annual ceremony in which the twelve year olds are assigned the special jobs that they will work for the rest of their lives. Read the rest »

“The Time Travelers,” by Linda Buckley-Archer

“The Time Travelers,” by Linda Buckley-Archer is the first book in a series of time traveling adventures. This book was formerly known as “Gideon the Cutpurse.”

When an antigravity experiment goes bad and Peter Schock and Kate Dyer are mysteriously thrown into eighteenth-century London, it is the start of an journey that will take the two young people into dangerous situations that their modern day lives have not prepared them for.

No sooner do the two children arrive in the past than their time travel machine is stolen by an infamous eighteenth century villain who goes by the name Tar Man. Read the rest »

“Things Not Seen,” by Andrew Clements

“Things Not Seen,” by Andrew Clements is a marvelous science fiction story about a boy who wakes up one morning to find that he is invisible.

The main character is Bobby Phillips, a young teenager whose life completely changes one morning when he wakes up invisible. Bobby wasn’t trying to become invisible, it just happened, and now he wants to become normal again. His parents are shocked by this occurrence but they understand that Bobby must stay hidden so that his strange quality is not publicized by the press or discovered by people who might want to misuse it. Read the rest »

“First Light,” by Rebecca Stead

“First Light,” by Rebecca Stead is a debut science fiction novel about a group of people living far beneath the ice of Greenland.

The science fiction story has two main characters whose enthralling story will pull the reader through 328 pages of mystery, and action.

For Peter the opportunity to travel to Greenland with his parents is a dream come true. Not only will he get to skip school for six weeks, but now he finally has a chance to share in the adventures that his father experiences day to day in his job as a scientist that studies glaciers and global warming. But once he and his parents arrive in Greenland, Peter starts to get the uncomfortable feeling that perhaps his parents had a hidden agenda in their trip. Read the rest »