At the Hub, Jessica Miller has a fantastic post about the growing number of YA science fiction books. Right now, there are some great options for middle readers (A Wrinkle in Time, anyone?) but there aren’t a lot for slightly older teens. Even though I hadn’t thought about this before, I felt the same way. I loved L’Engle’s books and others like it, but there’s a fairly large shift between that and adult sci-fi or fantasy. When I read Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End in seventh grade, I thought it was interesting, but I certainly was hooked enough to pick up his other books, even though he’s an excellent writer. I needed that bridge. As a result, whenever my husband tries to convince me that I actually do like sci-fi, I try to argue–even though I usually enjoy whatever I read or watch.

I think the shift might be inspired by the recent popularity of YA dystopian society novels. There’s obviously a huge market for YA sci-fi, and I’m glad there will be more books for these readers to enjoy. I also think this will be very helpful for female YA readers, who might have been intimidated by the current masculine vibe in the sci-fi section of the bookstore. (I know I was.)

In her post, Miller shares a list of YA sci-fi books. I know I’ll be picking up at least a few of these. Maybe this will finally help me admit that I am a fan of science fiction; I just needed that bridge.