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Science Fiction Stories for Teenage Girls?
Sooner Boomer asks: "Not having met 'Mrs. Boomer' yet, I'm buying Christmas gifts for my nieces and nephews. Whether genetics or just good luck, almost all of the young 'uns are girls. I've been slowly introducing them to the classics of science fiction: Heinlein ('Podkayne of Mars', _'Starship Troopers', etc.), Asimov short stories, Ann McAffrey (the Dragonrider books), Alan Dean Foster (the Flynx books and others), Douglas Adams and Terry Prachett, some Neil Gaiman (Stardust, Good Omens), as well as the mandatory Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. This is just a partial list, but what would Slashdot consider to be good (or even essential) science fiction for teen and pre-teen girls?"
Anything by Nicholas Fisk is good for that age bracket, but especially 'Highway Home' and 'Trillions'. Very accessible sci-fi for kids, although if you've already educated them in Pratchett and Heinlein you're probably way ahead of this.
Smegma.
What the hell do we know about girls??
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Lackey, who wrote the Heralds of Valdemar series, is about as perfect as you can get for a teenage girl--for one thing, three of the first books, Arrows of the Queen, Arrow's Flight, and Arrow's Fall have a teenage girl as the main character. All of them are fun to read, and most of them are at least pretty good books. Light fantasy.
Bujold is the author of the Miles Vorkosigan series, which has something of everything, as well as the Chalion series and a few other books. They're also excellent. The former are usually termed "space opera" (I'd call them "light SF"), and the latter are rather deep fantasy.
Dan Aris
Fun. Free. Online. RPG. BattleMaster.
Seriously though, don't miss Le Guin's "Earthsea" books, and the old Andre Norton stuff - the "Witch World" stories are good.
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I'd have to recommend the Honor Harrington Series. It's easy enough reading to be entertaining, and the story's compelling enough to bring you back for more. There's a good number of books in the series (On Basilisk Station being the first) and the main character through all but the latest is a very strong female lead.
The books tend to be a little formulaic, but still very enjoyable.
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A girl I was infatuated with got me hooked on Piers Anthony, specifically his Adept series. Good blend of sci-fi and "girly stuff" (unicorns, chivalry, etc.).
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Speaking as a former teenage girl...
The Meri by Maya Bohnhoff
Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy (start with The Crystal Cave)
Mercedes Lackey's Heralds of Valdemar series (start with Magic's Pawn or Arrows of the Queen)
David Eddings's Belgariad and Mallorean (start with Pawn of Prophecy)
Mary Herbert's Dark Horse trilogy (start with Dark Horse)
Trudi Canavan's Black Magician Trilogy (start with Magician's Guild)
Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality Series (start with On a Pale Horse)
Piers Anthony's Apprentice Adept Series (start with Split Infinity)
Perhaps not all of the Dragonrider books are going to be good, but certainly the Harper Hall trilogy, about Menolly, would be better, I think. Lessa is, well, annoying, really, though admirable. Nerilka's Story and Moreta's Ride are good stories, too. And lots of other McCaffrey stories are good. The Pegasus books, the Rowan books are all good stuff. I'd avoid the most recent Pern books, but that's just me. Up to around Dolphins of Pern is a good collection, though.
:)
The Telzey books by Schmitz (Schmidt?) would likely be good. The classic Witches of Karres has been reprinted, I think, and I believe there's also a sequel (written by another author, of course), though I could be wrong about that.
I see someone else has already suggested Mercedes Lackey's Arrows of the Queen books. Those are great, and much easier for a younger person to get through than the other Valdemar novels.
You might also look at some stuff by Patricia Wrede, the Enchanted Forest books are great fun, and not just for younger folks, either. Talking to Dragons is my favourite of the series.
Books by Tamora Pierce would be really good stuff. Multiple series by her - lots of good stuff.
If you want more of the science fiction, then space opera is always easier for younger kids to get into.
Scott Westerfeld is a newish author who has written some stuff that may work well. I especially liked Peeps.
If you're into Heinlein, then I can always suggest the Moon is a Harsh Mistress. That'll always get them thinking, though ya gotta be careful - many people mistake this story as an endorsement of Libertarianism. Still - ya gotta love Professor de la Paz's philosophy, Rational Anarchy. And Manny is a funny guy. Certainly reading the novel Starship Troopers will give a whole new perspective on things that the movie 'based on' the bok didn't.
The Honor Harrington novels by David Weber could certainly be appreciated by younger folks, as long as they're prepared to wade through all the 'technical' details. It's the same way you have to read Tom Clancy. Just let your eyes glaze over until you get to the story, which is always good stuff. I wish these two had editors with balls of steel and an eagerness to snip, but oh well - it's generally not wise to mess with success, and they are both very successful, indeed.
There's always the Xanth novels by Piers Anthony (Xanthony), though that series has gone on _waaaay_ too long.
There's the Myth Adventures books by Robert Aspirin, at least the first several; another series that's long since outlived its entertainment value.
The Belgariad/Mallorean books by David Eddings is good high fantasy, and has fantastic characters.
Okay, this is harder to do off the top of my head than I would've thought.
The various "Ship Who Sang" series - written by Anne McCaffrey and others.
Elizabeth Moon has some good military-oriented space opera. Much like Weber, but without the extraneous technical details.
Space Angel by John Maddox Roberts
Healer by F. Paul Wilson
Eridahn by Robert F. Young
Hmm.
I'm sure I'll think of several dozen other things on the way home from work. Maybe I'll post more later. Always a favourite topic.
Under all circumstances, more Heinlein: You can add the other "juveniles" first, the gradually increase the amount of "adult situations" over the years. Heinlein gives a few excellent examples of societies built upon different social systems and moral ideas (My own views were heavily influenced by his depictions of relationships in "Time enough for love", which I read first at the age of 13, I think. Don't if you don't want them to end up like Lapis & Lazuli, personality-wise, though :-P )
If you want you can try leaving a few copies of John Norman's Gor around when they're teenaged, they helped me discover and understand my BDSM side (Bugger if they don't have any or aren't bright enough to differentiate fantasy from reality!). This advice is not for the faint of heart, though (Still, I'm thankful for my father having these on his library board, where I was free to read since aged about 12).
Later again I can recommend the RGB-Mars series by Kim Stanley Robinson, which offers a few great examples of scientific thinking along with idealism vs. realism, but the reading is quite dry, so wait till they're 16 or so.
From the top of my head I can also think of these (Don't consider them "recommended", though. They were simply the ones I read...), that I liked quite well then (but then, I am male, though I doubt reading preferences are much more than behavior adopted from the surrounding society): The "Riverworld" series by Philip Jose Farmer, "The ragged astronauts" series ("Wooden spaceships" & "The Fugitive Worlds" are the other two, I believe) by Bob Shaw, the "Omega 2" books by Bo Anders (were particularly intersting when I was younger still (8,9?), so you might want to check them out. The author is german, so they might be difficult to find), "Hellstroms Hive" by Frank Herbert (A lot easier to comprehend than "Dune", but grizzly nonetheless) and finally "House of stairs" by William Sleator (Rather easy to read as well, certainly a "juvenile")
When I was a preteen girl I loved books by William Sleator. It was only years later that I realized how technologically/scientifically advanced they were-- at the time I just loved the stories. My favorites were The Boy Who Reversed Himself (which to this day shapes how I think about 4+ dimensional geometry) and House of Stairs (which I forgot about completely until I was in Psych 101 and then had to track it down and reread it), though they were all good; great plots and characters and cool SciFi. I can't vouch for anything written after about 1990.
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Have they asked for science fiction? (Disregard if so). Or shown any interest in reading it, in the least? It seems clear you are into it, and that's pretty awesome. But maybe you should aim to buy something that your nieces and nephews really enjoy. Something you know they will enjoy, based on their tastes, not yours. Not something that will collect dust on their shelves. You don't want to be the weird uncle (I'm assuming you're male due to the nature of your question) who always gives dopy books none of them like.
Probabilistically, what are the odds that they are all interested in sci-fi/fantasy? Nothing is "essential" as you put it, it's all a matter of taste. I read some growing up, but disliked a lot of it. So even if they are studious or like to read (an assumption right there, maybe a CD is what they would really appreciate) the topics could be as far ranging as biography, architecture, 18th century literature.
Giving the same genre across the board doesn't speak to any of them personally, and showcases what you think they should be interested in, not what they actually seek out themselves.
And, I believe, the season of giving is about selflessness and doing for others. Perhaps, rethink your strategy?
And if not, all these other suggestions here are good too.
Why would this automatically be different to SciFi stories for Teenage Boys?
The Deed of Paksenarrion - by Elizabeth Moon
It is in the Tolkein genre, but more personal, less "grand armies crashing". It's more accessible than Tolkein, but still grand. The hero is an -ine, which makes it a little more appropriate for the nieces. Everyone I have introduced to the book has loved it, including my in-the-Marines brother. And all of my sisters.
If they are in the Christian-way, I can also recommend the Stephan R Lawhead books: The Dragon King trilogy and the Empyrion saga.
My other favorites are more mainstream, and have probably already been mentioned.
One more book to consider is The Count of Monte Cristo. Long, but oh so good. I first read it when I was in sixth grade with a five-day flu, and it has been on my top 5 list ever since.
Everyone is entitled to his own opinions, but not his own facts.