I like my Sci. Fi. a
little on the realistic side and The Green Book by Jill Paton Walsh fits the
bill nicely.
A tiny snippet
about The Green Book without any spoilers:
"We are at
Shine, on the first day," says Pattie, when, as the youngest member of the
group, she is given the honor of naming the new settlement. Refugees from the
dying planet Earth, they, along with other ships, have been sent into space in
the hope that some of them will survive to continue the human race. But the
success of Shine remains doubtful as crops fail and provisions brought from
Earth dwindle.
I like this book so
much that I’ve reread it a few times since discovering it about 12 years ago,
and even though it is a middle grade novel I’ve used it successfully with high
school students because the themes in it are for all ages. I’ll probably use it
with my fifth grade class later this year.
It is a cool
combination of survival and group dynamics, and what they find on their new
planet is just plain amazing. At a little over a 100 pages it is a quick read,
but the story will linger in your brain.
What’s your favorite
middle grade science fiction title?
