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Science Fiction Books for Girls
Apr. 28th, 2008 06:48 pmOne thing I've been thinking about is the lack (as I perceive it) of science fiction books for tween and YA girls. It's quite possible I just haven't been reading along those lines and I'm missing out on some great offerings.
And when I say 'science fiction books for girls', I don't mean that girls can't read whatever science fiction book they want, no matter the gender of the main character or the gender of the author or the age of the so-called intended audience. I just mean where's the science fiction with girls in it?
The first thing that springs to mind is Diane Duane's Wizardry series. Some of you may cry 'That's fantasy!' And it's enough like fantasy that I won't argue too strongly against your view. But, to me, it's science fiction. The spells they create could very easily be mathematical or chemical formulas. And many of the books involve traveling to other planets or helping out aliens of one kind or another. If it lacks 'science', it's only because we haven't discovered the science and developed the technology yet. It certainly feels like science fiction.
An author I've only recently started to read is Scott Westerfeld. Of the 7 or so books I've read, I really prefer the ones with male main characters. However, he has written some science fiction books starring teenage girls, and they're not horrible. My favorite is Extras, which is fourth in the series, but if you don't mind reading them out of order, it could probably stand well enough on its own.
What else? Well, now I start thinking of examples that are fantasy, not science fiction. Or I think of short stories instead of novels. So, here's one of the latter:
I really like "Anda's Game" by Cory Doctorow. And that's a link, because you can go read it now if you want to! Or you can pick up Overclocked, which I highly recommend.
I'm scanning my list of books I've read in the past few years. There's Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, but I don't think it's a book I would've appreciated as a kid. It's not quite my sort of book even now.
That's all I can come up with! Without delving into manga, where it's almost too easy. I'll give CLAMP's Angelic Layer as one example, but there's many, many more.
Please help me!
And when I say 'science fiction books for girls', I don't mean that girls can't read whatever science fiction book they want, no matter the gender of the main character or the gender of the author or the age of the so-called intended audience. I just mean where's the science fiction with girls in it?
The first thing that springs to mind is Diane Duane's Wizardry series. Some of you may cry 'That's fantasy!' And it's enough like fantasy that I won't argue too strongly against your view. But, to me, it's science fiction. The spells they create could very easily be mathematical or chemical formulas. And many of the books involve traveling to other planets or helping out aliens of one kind or another. If it lacks 'science', it's only because we haven't discovered the science and developed the technology yet. It certainly feels like science fiction.
An author I've only recently started to read is Scott Westerfeld. Of the 7 or so books I've read, I really prefer the ones with male main characters. However, he has written some science fiction books starring teenage girls, and they're not horrible. My favorite is Extras, which is fourth in the series, but if you don't mind reading them out of order, it could probably stand well enough on its own.
What else? Well, now I start thinking of examples that are fantasy, not science fiction. Or I think of short stories instead of novels. So, here's one of the latter:
I really like "Anda's Game" by Cory Doctorow. And that's a link, because you can go read it now if you want to! Or you can pick up Overclocked, which I highly recommend.
I'm scanning my list of books I've read in the past few years. There's Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, but I don't think it's a book I would've appreciated as a kid. It's not quite my sort of book even now.
That's all I can come up with! Without delving into manga, where it's almost too easy. I'll give CLAMP's Angelic Layer as one example, but there's many, many more.
Please help me!
