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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?"
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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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)
I know they always seem to be in another castle.
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- A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L'EngleAny of a few score books by Andre Norton.
Anything by Patricia A McKillip, but particularly the "Riddlemaster of Hed" series.
Earthsea series by Ursula K LeGuin
- Ender's Game
by Orson Scott Card. The rest of the series is good as well (as is pretty much anything by Card) but may not appeal as much to your target audience."The legitimate powers of government extend only to such acts as are injurious to others." Thomas Jefferson.
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.