Our middle grade book spotlight this week is all about Science Fiction as we celebrate the unofficial Star Wars holiday of May the Fourth!!! What I love about Science Fiction is that there are so many different types and aspects--Science Fiction is defined as anything that could possibly happen in the future and it does not mean that it has to be in outer space even though that is a common setting. Science Fiction can contain a number of topics from robots and artificial intelligence, to living in outer space and intergalactic wars. We even have Science Fiction that contains some dystopian elements about how life could be extremely different in the future depending on what does or does not take place. There is literally something for everyone in this genre!!!! These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tag #youthscifi as well as on Libby and Hoopla. Check back next week for a new middle grade book spotlight and if you have any book suggestions, please let us know!!
Jinxed by Amy McCulloch--After fourteen-year-old Lacey Chu repairs a highly advanced smartphone/robotic pet companion, or baku, called Jinx, the baku gets her into her dream school, Profectus, where she is exposed to dangerous secrets.
Emperor of the Universe by David Lubar--When seventh grader Nicholas V. Landrew, his beloved pet gerbil Henrietta, and a package of ground beef are beamed aboard an alien spaceship, they soon find themselves on the run in a madcap chase across the universe. Now all Nicholas wants to do is get back home before his parents find out and ground him forever, but with the Universal Police hot on his trail, that won’t be easy. Before it’s all over, Henrietta will find herself safely ensconced back in her cage, Nicholas will be crowned Emperor of the Universe, and something even more surprising will happen to the package of ground beef.
The Portal by Kathryn Lasky--When Rose's mother dies in a car accident, her happy life takes a tragic turn that leaves her living with her strange grandmother and attending a school where the mean girls are intent on making her miserable. When Rose accidentally transports herself, by way of a mysterious light in her grandmother's greenhouse, to Hatfield Palace five hundred years before, she finds herself in the middle of events that could hold the key to unlocking secrets about the father she never knew.
A New Hope by Alexandra Bracken--Although the Rebel Alliance has won a few battles against the Empire, hope is fading. The Empire is about to finish building the greatest weapon the galaxy has ever seen-the Death Star. The rebels' only chance to defeat it now lies in the unlikely hands of a princess, a scoundrel, and a farm boy. . . .
The League of Seven by Alan Gratz--When an alternate 1875 steam-driven America rediscovers electricity, the lifeblood of the Mangleborn monsters, and the secret society to protect humanity from the Mangleborn is compromised, twelve-year-old Archie must assemble a team of seven young heroes to save the world.
Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix--Jonah and Chip were part of a planeload of 36 unaccompanied babies that mysteriously landed at an airport. Now, 13 years later, the two friends are receiving strange letters of warning that say, "You are one of the missing" and "Beware! They're coming back to get you!" Using up-to-date technology, the two boys, along with Jonah's sister, attempt to find out exactly what's going on, but a time travel adventure does not make it easy for them.