Sci-fi differs from fantasy by the inclusion of real (or real-feeling) science. Some books are set distant future (think time travel and space exploration) while others focus more on sociology and anthropology and predict the future of the human race. Are there ETs? It's sci-fi. Is there an oppressive government or was the world destroyed by climate change or war? Sci-fi. Has technology run amok? Yep, it's sci-fi!
The Last Cuentista by
Winner of the John Newbery Medal. A girl named Petra Pena wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita. But Petra's world is ending. Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children - among them Petra and her family - have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race. Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet - and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth
The Lion of Mars by
Bell has spent his whole life - all eleven years of it - on Mars. But he's still just a regular kid - he loves cats, any kind of cake, and is curious about the secrets the adults in the US colony are keeping. Like, why don't have contact with anyone on the other Mars colonies? Why are they so isolated? When a virus breaks out and the grown-ups all fall ill, Bell and the other children are the only ones who can help. It's up to Bell - a regular kid in a very different world - to uncover the truth and save his family ... and possibly unite an entire planet
The Mysterious Benedict Society by
"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?" Dozens of children respond to this peculiar ad in the newspaper and are then put through a series of mind-bending tests, which readers take along with them. Only four children--two boys and two girls--succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and inventive children could complete.
Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything by
Arizona. It's been three years since the ICE raids, since Artemisia (Sia) Martinez's mother disappeared. Sia knows her mom must be dead, but she drives into the desert to light candles to guide her mom home. One night a blue-lit spacecraft crashes in front of Sia's car-- and it's carrying her mom, who is very much alive. Now she needs to save her mom from the armed, quite-possibly-alien soldiers.
Daughter of the Deep by
In this story inspired by Jules Verne's '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,' Ana Dakkar, a freshman at Harding-Pencroft Academy--a five-year high school that graduates the best marine scientists, naval warriors, navigators, and underwater explorers in the world--makes astounding discoveries about her heritage and puts her leadership skills to the test against deadly enemies from a rival school.
The Shape of Thunder by
Told in their alternating voices, twelve-year-old neighbors and former best friends Cora Hamed and Quinn McCauley begin working together to open a wormhole so they can travel through time to prevent the school shooting that resulted in the deaths of Cora's sister and Quinn's brother.
The Electric Kingdom by
"When a deadly Fly Flu sweeps the globe, it leaves a shell of the world that once was. Among the survivors are eighteen-year-old Nico and her dog, on a voyage devised by Nico's father to find a mythical portal; a young artist named Kit, raised in an old abandoned cinema; and the enigmatic Deliverer, who lives Life after Life in an attempt to put the world back together. As swarms of infected Flies roam the earth, these few survivors navigate the woods of post-apocalyptic New England, meeting others along the way, each on their own quest to find life and love in a world gone dark.
Last Day on Mars by
It is Earth year 2213--but, of course, there is no Earth anymore. Not since it was burned to a cinder by the sun, which has mysteriously begun the process of going supernova. While waiting to leave Mars before it burns up just like the Earth before it, Liam and his friend Phoebe discover some facts about time and space and realize that the human race is just one of the races trying to survive in space.
The Upper World by
If you had the chance to change your future, would you take it? Today: During arguably the worst week of Esso's life, an accident knocks him into an incredible world--a place beyond space or time, where he can see glimpses of the past and future. But if what he sees there is true, he might not have much longer to live, unless he can use his new gift to change the course of history. Tomorrow Rhia's past is filled with questions, none of which she expects a new physics tutor to answer. But Dr. Esso's not here to help Rhia. He's here because he needs her help--to unravel a tragedy that happened fifteen years ago.
Yesterday Is History by
Weeks ago, Andre Cobb received a much-needed liver transplant. He's ready for his life to finally begin, until one night, when he passes out and wakes up somewhere totally unexpected...in 1969, where he connects with a magnetic boy named Michael. And then, just as suddenly as he arrived, he slips back to present-day Boston, where the family of his donor is waiting to explain that his new liver came with a side effect--the ability to time travel.
Verify by
When Meri Beckley looks at the peaceful Chicago streets, she feels pride in the era of unprecedented hope and prosperity over which the governor presides. But when her mother is killed, Meri suddenly has questions that no one else seems to be asking. And when she tries to uncover her mother's state of mind in her last weeks, she finds herself drawn into a secret world with a history she didn't know existed. Faced with a choice between accepting the 'truth' or embracing a world the government doesn't want anyone to see, the wrong words can get Meri killed.
The Loop by
"Luka Kane has spent 736 days wrongfully imprisoned inside the Loop awaiting his execution. Each day is the same. Each day is torturous. But things are starting to change. Whispers of war are circulating. Strange things are happening to the prisoners. And the warden delivers a message: Luka, you have to get out ... Now Luka must decide whether breaking out of the Loop is his only way to survive, especially if there's any chance of saving the ones he loves.
Cloud Cuckoo Land by
A "novel about children on the cusp of adulthood in a broken world who find resilience, hope, and story ... [They] are trying to figure out the world around them, and to survive. In the besieged city of Constantinople in 1453, in a public library in Lakeport, Idaho, today, and on a spaceship bound for a distant exoplanet decades from now, an ancient text provides solace and the most profound human connection to characters in peril"--.
The Apollo Murders by
From New York Times bestselling author and astronaut Chris Hadfield comes this exceptional thriller and "exciting journey" into the dark heart of the Cold War and the space race. 1973: a final, top-secret mission to the Moon. Three astronauts in a tiny spaceship, a quarter million miles from home. A quarter million miles from help. NASA is about to launch Apollo 18. While the mission has been billed as a scientific one, flight controller Kazimieras "Kaz" Zemeckis knows there is a darker objective. Intelligence has discovered a secret Soviet space station spying on America, and Apollo 18 may be the only chance to stop itan X
The Midnight Library by
Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?
Klara and the Sun by
From her place in the store that sells artificial friends, Klara--an artificial friend with outstanding observational qualities--watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change forever, she is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.
Goliath by
In the 2050s, Earth has begun to empty. Those with the means and the privilege have left the great cities of the United States for the more comfortable confines of space colonies. Those left behind salvage what they can from the collapsing infrastructure. Their neighborhoods are being cannibalized, brick by brick, with materials being sent up to the colonies as a quaint reminder of the world that they wrecked. A primal biblical epic flung into the future, Goliath weaves together disparate narratives--a space-dweller looking at New Haven as a chance to reconnect with his spiraling lover; a group of civil servants attempting to renew the promises of Earth's crumbling cities; a journalist attempting to capture the violence of the streets; a marshal questioning what form justice could even take--into a richly urgent mosaic about race, class, gentrification, and who is allowed to be the hero of any history.
Project Hail Mary by
The sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission to save both humanity and the earth, Ryland Grace is hurtled into the depths of space when he must conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.