Kids Books - Science Fiction

National Geographic Readers: Alexander Graham Bell (Readers Bios)

National Geographic Readers: Alexander Graham Bell (Readers Bios)

By Barbara Kramer

great read about the phone guy!

National Geographic Readers: Thomas Edison (Readers Bios)

National Geographic Readers: Thomas Edison (Readers Bios)

By Barbara Kramer

Thomas Edison did NOT invent electricity Tesla Did Edison stole his idea...

The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings) (Vol 2)

The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings) (Vol 2)

By J. R. R. Tolkien

The author never said what the two towers were exactly, but most people think they refer to the strongholds of the antagonists in this book: Saruman and Sauron. The main characters visit the former during their journeys in this book, and the latter casts its shadow throughout the LotR: it is where Sauron searches for the ring--and Frodo--and sends his terrifying messengers, the Nazgul. If you haven't read the first book, it's not a good idea to read this one, unless you skipped it because it was too slow, in which case, this one would be a welcome surprise. It has the right amount of beautiful, well-placed descriptions that contribute to the epic fantasy tone; new and memorable characters (introducing Faramir, Boromir's brother; Theoden, the old and wise king, and many others); and more epic battles against Orcs, including Uruks, which are stronger and more lethal than the others. A brief synopsis: by the end of the first book, the fellowship has been sundered into three groups: Merry and Pippin; Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn; and Frodo and Sam (and later, Gollum). The first is taken by Uruks (but they eventually escape, meeting new people). The second go out to look for them, but meet someone they weren't expecting (and later, they meet their missing friends at an unexpected location). The latter, whose story is only written about in the second part of the book, have escaped from Orcs and are determined to destroy the Ring. One thing readers might not appreciate is the occasional lack of character development. Aragorn accepts his role as king without hesitation, and Faramir is instantly wise and rejects the ring. And Legolas is always calm, subtly humorous and wry. However, I think Gollum makes up for it. He makes a promise to guide Frodo to Mordor, swearing on the one ring, and, for a long while he does. But you never really know if he's serious or not, and by the end, this racks up to the breaking point. Theoden, likewise, has a small, tragic character arc, first realizing the full extent of the danger, then setting out to destroy it, perhaps when it is too late. Sam is also surprisingly funny, especially during the famous potatoes moment, where he lectures Gollum about the virtues of vegetables. I admired the journey of Sam, how he matured even though he was unsure of himself, accompanying and staying loyal to Frodo. Also, readers will love/hate this book for its extensive descriptions that are sometimes hard to visualize and understand--expect lots about the setting sun, perhaps seven or eight. Others will appreciate their depth and tone; some of which stood out to me and will be hard to scrub from my brain. For example, Tolkien, compares the army of orcs to a field of wheat swept by the tide of war, which gives you an idea of the sort of genius he employed. Another thing: this book doesn't really start and end definitively: it continues from the last scene of The Fellowship of the Ring and ends with a scene that I'd best not divulge, but is a cliffhanger to say the least. It lacks a definitive storyline, with the ring bearer's story having an entirely different setting and action than the rest of the former fellowship, which might make it seem haphazard and all over the place to some readers. After half of the book has elapsed, the next we'll hear of Aragorn and his posse is at the start of The Return of the King. Aside from that, this is an almost-perfect middle book to a trilogy, or, to be correct, middle volume in the LotR. It has fewer slow moments than The Fellowship (however there are still some), and replaces them with action and battles, and dark, brooding dangers. It was full of adventure. It got me to love epic fantasy. It was an exceptional book. Truly exceptional.

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)

By Rick Riordan

There are five books in the Percy Jackson series, and many more books in the series Heroes of Olympus, which is kind of the sequel series to Percy Jackson. Today I will be reviewing the first book. The first book is good, I guess, it's okay. But it didn't appeal to me that much. *SPOILERS BELOW So basically the story centers around a kid named Percy Jackson. Percy Jackson has been expelled from every school he's been to so far because of accidents, like landing the whole class in a shark tank in the aquarium. When his current school, Yancy Academy, goes on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with his class, including his nemesis, Nancy and his best friend, Grover. His teacher, Ms. Dodds, turns out to be one of the Furies. The Furies are demons, basically, in Greek Mythology. His other teacher, Mr. Brunner, gives him a sword that can be disguised as a pen, called Riptide. Percy defeats Ms. Dodds and sends her back to Tartarus, which is the ultimate-horrible-place-to-go-when-you-die- place. Percy and his mom drive to Montauk Beach, but is met by Grover, who gives them a warning to go back. However, while driving, they are attacked by a Minotaur (monster that is half-bull, half-man.) He takes Percy's mom and Percy kills the Minotaur, before falling with exhaustion. Later, he and Grover are rescued and taken to Camp Half-Blood. While at Camp-Half Blood, Percy discovers that he is a demigod, a son of a mortal and one of the gods/goddesses in Greek Mythology. He also learns that Grover is a satyr (a mythical creature with horse-like features) and that Mr. Brunner is a centaur (half-horse, half-man). He also meets other demigods, like Annabeth, who is a daughter of Athena, Luke, who is a son of Hermes, and Clarisse, who is a daughter of Ares. Since no one knows who his god parent is, they place him in the Hermes cabin. Later, when they play a game of Capture the Flag, a trident appears above Percy, revealing that he is the son of Poseidon. Percy learns that Zeus, the king of the gods, thinks Poseidon used Percy to steal Zeus' lightning bolt, Zeus' chief weapon. The Oracle (a fortune-teller) tells Percy to return the stolen lightning bolt to Zeus to prove that he didn't steal it. Percy then has to go on an odyssey to find the lightning bolt with Annabeth and Grover. Percy, Annabeth and Grover defeat several mythological creatures, including the demon Medusa, who has snakes for hair. Now here's where it gets super confusing - at least for me. The trio find Hades, god of the dead, who has taken Percy's mom because he thinks Percy stole the Helm of Darkness (Hades' most powerful weapon). He says if Percy returns the Helm, Hades will return his mother. Percy realizes that Ares has all the stolen items. The backstory behind that is that when the lightning bolt was stolen, Zeus sent four of the most agile, quick, young and smart gods out to search for it, Apollo, Artemis, Athena and Ares. Only Ares found the true thief, Luke (the son of Hermes) but didn't turn him in. Instead Ares took the lightning bolt and the Helm of Darkness to start a war between the gods (because Ares is the god of war.) Percy challenges Ares to a duel, and surprisingly, wins. After getting all the items and returning them to their rightful owners, (and freeing his mother), Percy, Annabeth and Grover return to Camp Half-Blood. At Camp-Half Blood, Percy doesn't know that Luke is the thief (because Ares left that detail out) but Percy gets it quick enough when Luke tries to kill him with a scorpion. It is also revealed that Luke is a servant of Kronos, the King of the Titans, the enemy of the Gods. After all that, Percy decides to not stay at Camp Half-Blood year-round, only in the summer and to spend the rest of the year with his mother. Okay, here it is. There's a lot of five-star reviews, and I like this book. But it isn't one of my favorites because for one, the characters seem a bit one-sided. Percy's brave, Annabeth's witty, Grover's loyal. That was pretty much everything interesting about the characters. That kicked it down one star. The imagery and world building - amazing. Up one star. Descriptions were pretty good. Up one star. Managed to make my emotions go up and down and all around. One star more. One star less because it was so confusing and generally, I couldn't understand it near the end even though I have a solid base of Greek Mythology. It is a good book, I just feel it could use some improvement. But let's just say this - it's a book that stuck with me through and through and basically, it's worthy of putting on a special shelf on my bookcase. ~FelicisOwl

Ready Player One: A Novel

Ready Player One: A Novel

By Ernest Cline

With a global energy crisis, over population, and many more problems, many people on Earth turn to the OASIS, a multiplayer simulation game, where everyone can live the life they want, just like Wade Watts did. The OASIS was created by the brilliant mind of James Halliday, and after he died, the whole world found out that he left his whole fortune for the most worthy OASIS user, who had to do to Easter Egg Halliday had hidden in the OASIS by finding the three keys, and passing the three gates, as well as the final task. Soon nearly everyone was on the OASIS to find the egg. The IOI also hired a task force just for the egg. Wade, on the other hand, considered himself to be a gunter, since he knew everything about Halliday and was always thinking about the clue for the location of the first key. Will Wade be worthy enough to find the Easter Egg, or will IOI beat him to it? Blinded by fame and love, will Wade really risk his relationships with all his friends, and isolate himself? Or will he get his head back into the game and not let his popularity change his personality? To find out, you should read Ready Player One. It is now one of my favorite books, and I really enjoyed reading it. Throughout the whole book, I found it fascinating how detailed it was, and my favorite part was how Wade changed from being blinded by popularity to becoming more humble thoughtful. There were always new twists in the book, and I recommend this book to anyone who loves science fiction. I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars.

Want

Want

By Cindy Pon

Want by Cindy Pon is a dystopian/sci-fi novel set in Taipei, Taiwan (where I'm from lol). Though its futuristic tech may seem disconnected from or alien to our present reality, the book's themes are anything but, dealing with topics of the environment and social inequality. Want is as thrilling and action-packed as any other - it's a romance story after all! Come for the high-stakes infiltration and stay for the incessant drama in this novel for ages 13 and above ~

Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire (Book 4)

Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire (Book 4)

By J.K. Rowling

It is the summer holidays and soon Harry Potter will be starting his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry is counting down the days; there are new spells to be learnt, more Quidditch to be played and the Hogwarts castle to continue exploring. But Harry needs to be careful – there are unexpected dangers lurking… I absolutely love the Harry Potter books and out of the seven I'd probably say that The Goblet of Fire is my favourite, and this is mostly down to the creatures and other wizarding students we meet in the novel. As a lover of Hogwarts it's interesting to know what other wizarding schools are like in the world of Harry Potter, and to explore further the seemingly endless list of creatures. I can never find a boring or uninteresting moment in The Goblet of Fire and I never get sick of reading it again and again as it's so easy to lose myself in Harry Potter with the astounding events and distinctive characters. I really like how Hermione Granger strives through in this book as not just a clever girl, but as a girl with passion and determination. I like her complex personality; normally she is typecasted into just being 'intelligent', but Hermione is shown with a more girly and emotive side in this book, giving her more depth than just being Harry's clever friend. She is well-rounded and is more accessible as a regular person (though a witch) with feelings and a personality. In this book we regularly come across Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff, who allows us to see the Hufflepuff house in more depth rather than just briefly touching upon it as it has been in other books. I like how we can see the fairness Cedric strives to uphold throughout this book, showing us the value of Hufflepuffs. Anyone who hasn't read up to The Goblet of Fire should definitely re-think that decision as this is the book where it all changes and it's then impossible to not continue reading the rest of the books. The Goblet of Fire definitely deserves a 5/5 in my opinion.

TBH #1: TBH, This Is So Awkward

TBH #1: TBH, This Is So Awkward

By Lisa Greenwald

When Prianka accidentally sends a hurtful text message to Victoria, the new girl, Gabby, Cecily, and Prianka's friendship is put to a test. I would recommend this for ages 11+ I think this book was pretty good but the pace could have been sped up a bit. I also found some things boring but the rest was really good. Since the book was in text, it was really fun to read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would recommend this to you if you can easily read texts but if you can't then i would definitely NOT recommend this.

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