Science fiction for young adults

Bob Thompson mentioned that he was looking for books for a young neighbor. Based on my own kids, I thought I’d write a few quick recommendations. David, my eldest, is 11, and loves to read more than anything (well, except for eating and playing the Xbox 360). He’s read a few of the Heinlein juveniles, but they haven’t really captured his interest, although I’m going to try again to get him to read Starship Troopers. These books, on the other hand, have been among his favorites:

• Scott Westerfeld‘s Uglies trilogy (Uglies, Pretties, and the just-released Specials). Scene: future post-industrial world where cosmetic surgery is mandatory at age 16. This leads to very different social dynamics than we’re used to, but something is rotten in Denmark. Lots of beauty-is-more-than-skin-deep and don’t-judge-books-by-their-covers messaging, but it’s fairly subtle. (n.b. for grownups, I strongly recommend Westerfeld’s Risen Empire books– outstanding in both characterization and execution!)
• Elizabeth Moon‘s Trading in Danger, Marque and Reprisal, and Engaging the Enemy(which just came out; I haven’t read it yet). Kylara Vatta is expelled from her homeworld’s military academy, so her dad assigns her to take a family freighter to the breakers’ yard– only a war interferes. Very strong female characters; they’re starship captains and spymasters, for crying out loud! Moon is a former Marine, and her space battles (both infantry and naval) are invigorating.
• Anthony Horowitz‘s Alex Rider series. Not really SF; Rider is a 14-year-old boy who runs afoul of MI-6 after he discovers that his father was actually an agent. Six or seven books in the series; both my 11- and 8-year-olds love them. No particular redeeming quality other than being fast-paced.</li?

I particularly like these books because there’s nothing I wouldn’t want my kids to read: no sex, very little bad language, etc. I realize that some people aren’t as concerned with what their kids read/see/watch, but I appreciate these authors’ efforts to write YA fiction that I’m not embarrassed for them to read. Case in point: John Varley’s Red Thunder was a great Heinlein-ish YA book, except that RAH would never have put Varley’s raunchy language or explicit sex into a YA book. The same is true for Westerfeld’s Peeps, although it’s quite a bit milder than Varley.