Our teen 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 #yascifi as well as on Libby and Hoopla. Check back next week for a new teen book spotlight and if you have any book suggestions, please let us know!!
Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything by Raquel Vasque Gilliland--Three years ago Sia's mother was deported back to Mexico and she hasn't seen her since. In spite of enduring racism from various individuals in her small Arizona town, Sia receives love and acceptance from her father, her best friend, and a quiet new boy in school. When she makes an annual trip to the desert to light spiritual candles for her mother, a spaceship crash-lands in front of her and she discovers her mother is very much alive and government officials are hiding terrible secrets.
A Conspiracy of Stars by Olivia Cole--Octavia has always wanted to be one of the N'Terra scientists studying the planet Faloiv, so when the usually secretive labs are suddenly opened to students, she jumps at the chance to see what the scientists are researching. She quickly discovers that the scientists are performing experiments that will upset the fragile peace with the Faloii, the indigenous people of Faloiv. As Olivia discovers more disturbing secrets about the history she's been taught, the science she loves, and the truth about her family, she might just become the reason for all-out war.
Scythe by Neil Shusterman--In a future world where all hunger, disease, war, misery, and even death have been conquered, to keep the population from exploding and becoming unsustainable, the scythes are the only agents with the legal authority to kill people. Teens Citra and Rowan are chosen to be apprentice scythes, a role neither wants, but they have no choice--if they do not master the "art" of ending life, they might lose their own.
The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchison--Sixteen-year-old Elena Mendoza, the first scientifically confirmed virgin birth, acquires the ability to heal by touch at the same time that people start disappearing in beams of light, causing her to wonder if she is bringing about the Apocalypse.
Life L1K3 by Jay Kristoff--When Eve learns she can destroy machines with her mind, she becomes a target for a group of puritanical fanatics, and with her new android best friend Ezekiel, faces cyborg assassins.
All Rights Reserved by Gregory Scott Katsoulis--Speth Jime is turning fifteen, and is prepared to give her traditional Last Day speech--the speech that marks the beginning of her life as an adult in a world where every word spoken has a price. But when her best friend commits suicide rather than pay off his family's debt--debt incurred because of the cost of speaking--Speth makes a defiant decision and vows to never speak again. Soon others are following in her footsteps and the very fabric of her society threatens to unravel.