Riot Recommendation

Over 50 of Your Favorite YA Sci-Fi Books

María Cristina García lives in New York with her favorite spouse, her favorite toddler, her favorite cat, and her second-favorite cat. When not ranking members of her household, she's catching up on Supergirl, strumming her mandolin, or trying to beat the clock on her library loans. Twitter: @MeowyCristina Blog: MeowyCristina.com

This Riot Recommendation on YA sci-fi books is sponsored by Your One and Only by Adrianne Finlay.

Jack is a walking fossil. The only human among a sea of clones. It’s been hundreds of years since humanity died off in the slow plague, leaving the clones behind to carry on human existence. Over time they’ve perfected their genes, moving further away from the imperfections of humanity. But if they really are perfect, why did they create Jack? Meanwhile, Althea-310 struggles with the feeling that she’s different from her sisters. Her fascination with Jack doesn’t help. As Althea and Jack’s connection grows stronger, so does the threat to their lives. What will happen if they do the unthinkable and fall in love?


I can’t be chill about a good sci-fi story (she types bleary-eyed after a Star Trek: The Next Generation all-night marathon). And as the kids in my extended family grow into teenagers, I need them to get into the genre too. Or else I’m going to have to learn how to use that snappy chat thing if I want to relate to them, and I just don’t have the storage on my phone. So I asked for your favorite works of YA sci-fi. You told me and now I’ve got a library hold list that’s going to give me so much cred with the youths.

Citizen of the Galaxy, Podkayne of Mars, and Farmer in the Sky by Heinlein

Needle and Through the Eye of a Needle by Hal Clement

The Mushroom Planet series by Eleanor Cameron

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Interstellar Pig by William Sleater

The Lucky Starr series by Isaac Asimov writing as Paul French

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

A Conspiracy of Stars by Olivia A. Cole

Red Rising Series by Pierce Brown

The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer

Time Storm by Gordon R. Dickson

The Zodiac series by Romina Russell

Bumped and Thumped by Megan McCafferty

The Solar Queen series by Andre Norton

Feed by M. T. Anderson

The Binti series by Nnedi Okorafor

Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones

Starswept by Mary Fan

Nyxia by Scott Reintgen

The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld

Starflight by Melissa Landers

Avalon and Polaris by Mindee Arnett

Growing Up Weightless by John M. Ford

This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis

The Mortal Engines series by Philip Reeve

Leia: Princess of Alderaan and Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray

Amish Vampires in Space by Kerry Nietz

The Illuminae Files series by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

The Tripods series by John Christopher

Invictus by Ryan Graudin

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

The Islands at the End of the World by Austin Aslan

The Earthseed series by Pamela Sargent

The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie

The Carve the Mark series by Veronica Roth

Terminal Alliance by Jim C. Hines

The Forever War series by Joe Haldeman

The Riverworld series by Philip Jose Farmer