SCINTILLATING SCI-FI
Brittain, Bill.
Shape-changer. (J Brittain)
Two seventh-grade friends help a shape-changing policeman from
the planet Rodinam as he tries to recapture an alien master criminal
who can also change form.
1997 Nutmeg Chirldren's Book Award Winner!
Butts, Nancy. Door in the Lake. (J Butts)
After vanishing without a trace one night during a camping trip,
twelve-year-old Joey reappears two years later, showing no signs
of having aged and carrying memories of a strange light in the
sky.
Cooper, Susan.
The Boggart / The Boggart and the Monster (J Cooper)
After visiting the castle in Scotland which her family has inherited
and returning home to Canada, twelve-year-old Emily finds that
she has accidentally brought back with her a boggart, an invisible
and mischievous spirit with a fondness for practical jokes.
Coville, Bruce. I Left My Sneakers in Dimension X. (J Coville)
Rod thinks his summer is ruine when he hears his cousin Elspeth is coming to visit, but that's nothing compared to being kidnapped by an alien monster from another dimension. Reality quakes, shape-shifting, and martial-arts training keep Rod far too busy to worry about Elspeth, as do his endeavors to save the universes (all of them) with his Galactic Patrol alien allies
Coville, Bruce. My Teacher is an Alien. (J Coville)
Susan Simmons can tell that her new substitute teacher is really weird. But she doesn't know how weird until she catches him peeling off his face and realizes "Mr. Smith" is really an alien. Other book in the series are: My Teacher Fried My Brains ,My Teacher Glows in the Dark , and My Teacher Flunked the Planet.
Christopher, John. The Tripods series. (J Christopher)
Fourteen-year-old Laurie and his family attempt to flee England
when the Tripods descend from outer space and begin brainwashing
everyone with their hypnotic Caps. When the Tripods Came / The White Mountains / The City of Gold and Lead / The Pool of Fire
Danziger, Paula. This Place Has no Atmosphere. (J Danziger)
Aurora loves her life on Earth in the twenty-first century, until she learns that her family is moving to the colony on the moon.
Duprau, Jeanne. City of Ember. (J Duprau)
In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions. Other books in the series: City of Sparks, and Prophet of Yonwood.
Fox, Helen. Eager. (J Fox)
Unlike Grumps, their old-fashoned robot, the bell family's new robot, Eager, is programed not mearly to obey but to question, reason, and exercise free will. Sequel: Eager's Nephew
Greenburg, Dan. Dude, Where’s My Spaceship. (J Greenburg)
When their spaceship crash lands on Earth, Ploo is captured by the Army and taken to the mysterious Area 51 and while her brothers, Lek and Klatu, try to rescue her, Ploo uses her ESP to make a new friend.
Grunwell, Jeanne. Mind Games. (J Grunwell)
Each of the six members of Mr. Ennis's Mad Science Club presents a report of his or her experiences working on a science fair project to investigate ESP, which resulted in their winning the Maryland lottery.
Gutman, Dan. Satch and Me. (J Gutman)
With his ability to travel through time using vintage baseball cards, Joe takes Flip with him to find out whether Satchel Paige really was the fastest pitcher ever. Other books in the series include Mikey and Me, Babe and Me, Abner and Me, Jackie and Me, and Honus and Me
Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Among the Free. (J Haddix)
When thirteen-year-old Luke Garner unwittingly sets off a rebellion which sweeps the country and ousts the Population Police from power, he quickly realizes that the new regime is corrupt and he may hold the only key to true freedom. Other books in the series: Among the Hidden, Among the Imposters, Among the Betrayed, Among the Barons, Among the Brave, and Among the Enemy.
Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Running Out of Time. (J Haddix)
When a diphtheria epidemic hits her 1840 village, thirteen-year-old Jessie discovers it is actually a 1995 tourist site under unseen observation by heartless scientists, and it's up to Jessie to escape the village and save the lives of the dying children.
Jones, Diana. Tale of Time City. (J Jones)
In 1939 an eleven-year-old London girl is kidnapped to Time City, a place existing outside the stream of time and manipulating the history of humanity, where she finds the inhabitants facing their worst hour of crisis.
Lowery, Lois. The Giver. (J Lowery)
Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives. Other books in the series are Gathering Blue and The Messanger.
L’Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time. (J L’Engle)
Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg's father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government. Other books in the series include A Swiftly Tilting Planet and A Wind in the Door.
MacHale, D. J. Pendragon. (J Machale)
Bobby Pendragon is a seemingly normal fourteen-year-old boy. He has a family, a home, and even Marley, his beloved dog. But there is something very special about Bobby. He is going to save the world. And not just Earth as we know it. Bobby is slowly starting to realize that life in the cosmos isn't quite what he thought it was. And before he can object, he is swept off to an alternate dimension known as Denduron, a territory inhabited by strange beings, ruled by a magical tyrant, and plagued by dangerous revolution. If Bobby wants to see his family again, he's going to have to accept his role as savior, and accept it wholeheartedly. Because, as he is about to discover, Denduron is only the beginning.
O'Brien, Robert C.
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (J O'Brien)
Having no one to help her with her problems, a widowed mouse visits
the rats whose former imprisonment in a laboratory made them wise
and long lived. 1972 Newbery Award Medal Winner!
Paulsen, Gary. The Time Hackers. (J Paulsen)
When someone uses futuristic technology to play pranks on twelve-year-old Dorso Clayman, he and his best friend set off on a supposedly impossible journey through space and time trying to stop the gamesters who are endangering the universe.
Peck, Richard. Lost in Cyberspace. (J Peck)
While dealing with changes at home, sixth-grader Josh and his friend Aaron use the computer at their New York prep school to travel through time, learning some secrets from the school's past and improving Josh's home situation.
Prévost, Guillaume. Book of Time. (J Prévost)
In the Faulkner Antiquarian Bookstore,14-year-old Sam Faulkner searches for his missing father. But when Sam slips an old coin into a statue, hes swept back in time--to Scotland in 800 A.D.--where he must find both the statue and another coin so he can return to the present.
Schade, Susan. Travels of Thelonious. (J Schade)
At a time when animals only know myths about the talking humans who once dominated and nearly destroyed the world, a young chipmunk escapes danger in the City of Ruins and, with new friends, finds the Fog Mound, where all creatures live in peace and harmony.
Seidler, Tor. Brainboy and the Deathmaster. (J Seidler)
When Darryl, a twelve-year-old orphan, is adopted by a technology genius, he finds himself the star of his very own life-threatening video game.
Waugh, Sylvia. Who Goes Home. (J Waugh)
On his thirteenth birthday, Jacob learns a secret about his birth and becomes involved in his father's work to protect other beings from the planet Ormingat who live on Earth.
Yolen, Jane. The Devil's Arithmetic. (J Yolen)
Hannah resents stories of her Jewish heritage and of the past
until, when opening the door during a Passover Seder, she finds
herself in Poland during World War II where she experiences the
horrors of a concentration camp, and learns why she-- and we--need
to remember the past.
Mary Cheney Library
586 Main Street
Manchester, CT 06040
(860) 645-0577
http://library.townofmanchester.org/children.html
Whiton Memorial Branch Library
100 North Main Street
Manchester, CT 06042
(860) 643-6892
Updated 1/09