Where are the Science Fiction Books for Kids? (Original post: January 26, 2010)
Given that I’m writing a middle grade science fiction novel, this confirmed what I had observed on the bookshelves: namely a lack of true science fiction books for kids. The racks are teaming with them in the Adult aisle (also simply known as the “Science Fiction” section), and there are even a few notable successes on the Young Adult shelf (Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series comes to mind), but there is a yawning void on the Middle Grade shelves where science fiction should be.
No lack of dragons, wizards or fairies, though.
Beyond my self-interested question of whether publishers will buy MG SF, I wonder why there isn’t more of it? Middle grade children love science fiction when it’s packaged in a visual media – Star Wars, anyone? Building space vehicles and fighting aliens is a full time occupation for many 8-12 year old boys. And science these days rocks, compared to when I was a kid, when we were still impressed when the Space Shuttle launched and came back in one piece. Today, DNA analysis is commonplace, there’s probably some wacko out there that’s actually cloned a human being, and scientists are creating miniature black holes inside of the Large Hadron Collider. This is cool stuff, people, and it’s old hat. Been done. The future is even brighter and shinier.
Or is it?
Even bringing dystopian science fiction into the fold, there’s still not much on the middle grade shelves. The future shouldn’t be any scarier than it’s ever been. When I was a kid, dystopian novels by Heinlein and Ursula K. LeGuin were some of my favorites. These were admittedly adult books, but even the kids know that as soon as the robots become sentient, we’re all doomed anyway. No sense shielding them from the apocalypse.
Seriously, kids these days are steeped in a science and technology oriented world. Admittedly, my kids are on the geekier side of normal, more likely to have a favorite physicist than a favorite ball team. But they’re not the only ones. The Science Channel has a whole series called Sci Fi Science, where you can learn how to design a light saber, or how to travel to a parallel universe. There’s no lack of cool science things out there.
So, why not in the kidlit? Is there just a subset of the universe that writes children’s books, and another subset that loves science, and the two intersect only in a small sliver of the planet somewhere in Idaho? I’m exaggerating, of course, and there are middle grade science fiction books out there. Two that I stumbled across went immediately on my TBR list:
Mike Stellar: Nerves of Steel by K. A. Holt.
If you can rec some middle grade SF books, please drop me a comment so I can add it to my list. If I get enough, I might even stop complaining.
And if you have a theory about the lack of MG SF on the shelves, even if it involves mutant cyborgs from the future that have wiped our brains, rendering us incapable of writing children’s science fiction and thereby eliminating the possibility that we will stop them from world domination . . . please let me know.
I've always loved Sci-Fi, but I don't think there's ever enough of it getting published, for any reading level.
Oooh, oooh! I do a unit on science fiction with my 5th grade class every year. I use Star Hatchling by Margaret Bechard (which sadly is out of print) and The Power of UN by Nancy Etchemendy.
Great post! I've always viewed this field as still in its infancy, but I think within the next generation there'll be a lot more scifi for kids. Neat blog:)
Saw your post mentioned on G+ I've been writing SF for adult (15+) for over a decade, and it was only last year I decided to write something for M-G ages.
My wife's been telling me I should for years, but of course I didn't do anything until it was 'my' idea.
As for why there isn't much M-G SF around … I have nothing. Maybe SF writers want to be taken seriously when they're starting out, impressing their peers and getting noticed, and translate this into a need to write adult fiction rather than fun books for kids?
Anyway, I had a blast writing my M-G book, and there are definitely more to come.
Thanks, Susan. There absolutely is a gap on the shelves where more middle grade science fiction should be. I'm doing my part to fill the void but there are some traditional perceptions working against us–like those who think science fiction is just for boys, and that boys don't read. Successful MG scifi will have to prove both of those presumptions wrong.
@Greg Perceptions are self-reinforcing, when we're making publishing decisions based on them. It's tough, because publishers have to act like a business, but its one reason I'm glad that self-publishing opens those gates a little.Best of luck with your books!
I wonder if it's because adult SF has become so grim, lacking in adventure and optimism and gung-ho. Since you can't make MG *that* dark, no one's publishing MG SF much at all. Though even the little SF I see on the MG shelves is pretty dystopian (or humorous, but I don't do funny all that well, as a reader or a writer).
Most MG writers aren't inclined to write dark SF. I don't think it's a lack of good MG SF being written; I think it's a perceived idea that it will not sell, especially if it's "too technical", and so publishers feel like it has to have something "broad" that will make it appeal wider. And at the same time, they print StarWars stuff endlessly, which sells. I really think it's a bias more than based on data. As far as humor, it sells (at least to the MG sector), so that can be justified. My current thought on this is that genres that are underrepresented in traditional publishing are ripe for indie-published works.