Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell is a coming of age book about Cath who is a Simon Snow megafan. Cath is also considered an introvert unlike her sister who is an extreme extrovert. Cath spends her time writing Simon Snow fanfictions in her room. When Cath and her sister decide to move away for university and live separately for the first time. While alone Cath has to deal with anxiety, her roommate and roommate's boyfriend. Cath’s fanfiction is the only thing that calms her down and uses it as her go to.

I really enjoyed Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell because although every person is completely different everyone can find a little bit of themselves in Cath, making the book relatable to all. One of my favorite quotes from the book explains how Cath’s personality and then shows how she was able to change, “Cath felt like she was swimming in words. Drowning in them, sometimes.” I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys coming of age stories. If you like Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell you’ll like Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell.

Rudayna Tabbara

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is an exciting adventure novel set in a futuristic world and country called Panem. Katniss Everdeen is from district 12 of Panem. She lives a poor life with her mother and sister hunting daily in order to make a living. Every year the capital of Panem holds an annual “Hunger Games”. In these games a boy and a girl between the ages of 12 to 18 are randomly chosen to fight to the death until only one person survives. The Hunger Games describes Katniss’s experiences through the Hunger Games and the harsh, unrealistic conditions in the country of Panem.

I really like this book because the theme of power is evident throughout the novel and is constantly reinforced. The capital reminds the other districts that they are the most powerful by creating the Hunger Games. The following passage from the novel explains how Collins described how the capital uses its power while also explaining that there had been a previous rebellion, “Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch – this is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion. Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. “Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there’s nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen.”

Airman by Eoin Colfer

Airman is a science fiction, adventure novel written by Eoin Colfer. The story takes place during the 1890s and is about a boy named Conor who lives with his family on the Saltee islands off the coast of Ireland. There he studies the about flight with his tutor and spends time with the Princess Isabella, the kings daughter. One day Conor finds out about a plot against the King, and when he tries to warn about it, he is accused for treachery and is sent to the prison island of little Saltee. There he has to battle for his life as he is forced to mine in terrible conditions. The only thing that can save Conor is his knowledge of flight. For months he draws plans for a contraption that will get him out of the Island. I loved this book because of its adventure and science fiction genre, and how the main character uses his knowledge and ingenuity to plan an escape from prison. I would recommend this book to both high and middle school students who are interested in Sci-Fi and adventure novels.

Sameer Khan

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

The Time Machine is a classic time traveling adventure, and even one of the first of its kind. In fact, Wells even coined the term time machine. It is about this guy that creates a vehicle that can take him back to a specific point in time. He accidentally goes to the very distant point in time, year 802701. He later meets the very gentle and not violent Eloi. However, he does not live in peace with the Eloi for very long because there are these freaky ape things called Morlocks that are not gentle and are violent. Morlocks are not good business, I’m sure. It is a really short, and fun book. It is recommend for middle-school, or any science fiction nut.

Luqman Sattar

War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

War of the Worlds is another classic novel of H.G. Wells. The book was widely popular, and has gotten a movie, and a few graphic novel versions (we have one in the library… if you check the comic out instead I won’t blame you. I promise). It is about a bunch of aliens invading earth in these tripod thingies. And it all starts on the planet Mars, when astronomers see a bunch of explosions on the surface of the red planet. Then they see a bunch of Martians popping out on Earth and killing a bunch of people. Of course there is a war because then the name of the novel would be different. Anyways, the humans lose and begin foraging through houses and living under ground. The book is very interesting and really cool. I recommend this book to middle school, high school, and science fiction lovers.

Luqman Sattar

Star Wars: Rebellion by Rob Williams

Back when Luke Skywalker was a kid he was friends with Janek Sunber. The two were inseparable until they grew up a bit and went their own ways. Flash forward a few years, and Luke Skywalker is a legendary Jedi Knight, and Janek has become a soldier for the galactic empire (yes, he becomes a bad guy.) The two meet and spark a rivalry for the first time in many years making both of them question the side they are on, and causing very big repercussions. Star Wars is one of my favorite science fiction series, and I will read anything about it, this is the main reason why I liked it. I really recommend this action packed graphic novel to any middle schooler because that is the level that it is for.

Luqman Sattar

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

This book takes a very widely known concept which is virtual reality. In the future, you don’t control a character when playing a game, you are the character. In video games you can die and come back to life repeatedly, but some kind of hacker dude keeps hostages in the virtual world and kills causes them to have permanent brain damage in the real world. Three teenagers are recruited by the government to stop them, and causing them to move into an area of the virtual reality that they have never seen before. James Dashner takes a very interesting concept and makes an action and science fiction novel for young adults! In my opinion I find it very interesting, and reminds me of Tron. A definite recommend to high school and middle school.

Luqman Sattar

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

This book was everything unexpected. Ready Player One is a book set in 2044 where an online video game OASIS dominates the life of the majority of people. Earth by this time is depleted of natural resources and everyone’s lives are ravaged by poverty. People all over the world are turning a blind eye and refuse to accept their reality by replacing it with a perfect life on OASIS. When the multi-billionaire creator of OASIS dies, he sets a competition that'll determine the heir to his fortune (and company). Five years after the competition is announced, a parentless boy named Wade becomes the first to unlock the first stage of the challenge and triggers a mad scramble of OASIS users trying to complete the challenge, a challenge that many would kill for. Along his journey, he makes friends and enemies and learns at the end that OASIS is not a substitute for real life. As a person who is no way a gamer, I had my doubts when I started reading the book. By the time I was done, I wanted to pick it up and read it again. This book was nothing like I’ve ever read before, indescribable, truly one of a kind. I recommend this to everyone, gamer or non-gamer, because this book drives you to consider where the future of humanity is headed and at which point rampant technology becomes too much.

Faatimah Solomon

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

The Knife of Never Letting Go is a young-adult science fiction novel written by Patrick Ness. The book takes place in a small settlement called Prentisstown on "New World". The strange thing about this town is that it only has men and everyone can hear each other’s thoughts, no privacy, a never ending noise, and no secrets. In this town is Todd Hewitt, the last boy in Prentisstown. Just one month before his birthday Todd stumbled upon a spot with complete silence, which is impossible. This means that Prentisstown had been lying to him. Todd goes back to tell his adoptive parents Ben and Cillian about this, they tell him to run away from the town as far as possible. Todd obeys unwillingly and soon finds himself being chased by Army of Prentisstown men. While he escapes he finds a girl named Viola who crashed inside a space pod. Now both Todd and Viola have to run away from Prentisstown army to somewhere safe, but they do not know if there are other settlements in New World. I loved this book because of its original plot full of mystery which you have to think about and the interesting Sci-Fi setting. I would recommend anyone interested into science fiction to read this book because the story is worth it.

Sameer Khan

World War Z by Max Brooks

If you watched the movie, you should probably know that there is a book that came before it. World War Z is a book by Max Brooks about zombies. It starts off in China with the start of a few infected people. But it starts to spread, and fast. Soon it spreads all over the world. A cure must be found, and fast. The story unfolds with individual accounts of people (obviously fake accounts). The book is considered an apocalyptic horror book. But I consider it a science fiction and thriller book. It is a good and exciting must-read that I absolutely recommend. If you are reading this for the movie-ness I will tell you right now that even Max Brooks said that the only thing similar between the book and movie was pretty much its name. So… yeah, big difference.

Luqman Sattar

The Lorien Legacies: I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

The story begins with a peaceful planet called Lorien. And like all peaceful planets in anything science fiction related, it gets destroyed in an intergalactic invasion. In a last hope to save their species, nine children are sent to Earth with their designated guardians. All these children are charmed and given numbers. This number they have is the number they will be killed in. Numbers 1 to 3 have been killed by this evil alien race called the Mogadorians. Number Four is obviously next. He and his guardian flee to this small town called Paradise, which, in his opinion, really sucks. However, he does make his peace with the town and becomes happy. But something just isn’t right about Paradise. I am Number Four is the first book in Lorien Legacies. The book, as well as the series, are action packed, fast paced, and sprinkled with hints of romance here and there. But it’s mostly action and fast-paced though.

Luqman Sattar