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	<title>Great Books for Children &#187; Science Fiction/Fantasy</title>
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		<title>The Apothecary by Maile Meloy &#8211; Harry Potter with a Cold War Twist</title>
		<link>http://greatbooksforchildren.com/891/the-apothecary-by-maile-meloy-harry-potter-with-a-cold-war-twist?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-apothecary-by-maile-meloy-harry-potter-with-a-cold-war-twist</link>
		<comments>http://greatbooksforchildren.com/891/the-apothecary-by-maile-meloy-harry-potter-with-a-cold-war-twist#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Mar 2012 06:00:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Smoore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Action/Adventure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Friendship Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle Grade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science Fiction/Fantasy]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Cold War]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://greatbooksforchildren.com/?p=891</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Maile Meloy&#8217;s (pronounced MY-lee like Miley Cyrus) middle-grade novel The Apothecary is a bit like Harry Potter meets the pharmacy meets the Cold War.  Instead of wizards and spells you have apothecaries and magical elixirs, and instead of evil Voldemort you have governments bent on nuclear domination. The year is 1952.  The place is London.  Janie Scott has been forced to move from Los Angeles with her screenwriter parents who have been blacklisted.  Soon she meets and makes friend with the daring and adventurous Benjamin Burrows, a classmate who is practicing his espionage skills in the hopes of one-day being a spy for Great Britain.  Heaven knows, he&#8217;d never like to be like his dull apothecary father who runs a boring pharmacy that has been in the family for generations. But boring old dad isn&#8217;t just a pharmacist&#8211;he&#8217;s a chemist, a scientist with an ancient book called the Pharmacopoeia that is full of directions for elixirs, potions, and chemical reactions.   Benjamin&#8217;s father is also involved in a plot to save the world from the devastating effects of the atom bomb.  Soon Janie and Benjamin are running from Russian spies, double-agents, and truancy officers as they race to save Benjamin&#8217;s father and prevent nuclear disaster.  The Apothecary is [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<title>Steampunk Fiction for Middle Schoolers:  Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld</title>
		<link>http://greatbooksforchildren.com/660/steampunk-fiction-for-middle-schoolers-leviathan-by-scott-westerfeld?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=steampunk-fiction-for-middle-schoolers-leviathan-by-scott-westerfeld</link>
		<comments>http://greatbooksforchildren.com/660/steampunk-fiction-for-middle-schoolers-leviathan-by-scott-westerfeld#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 05 Apr 2010 01:09:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Smoore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Action/Adventure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Historical Fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science Fiction/Fantasy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://greatbooksforchildren.com/?p=660</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Special thanks to my son, co-writer of this blog entry. Steampunk fiction is a sub-genre of sci-fi &#8220;set in an era or world where steam power is widely used&#8221; (wikipedia).  Think 19th century Victorian England with a fantasy/sci-fi twist.  Scott Westerfeld&#8217;s steampunk novel Leviathan  (Simon &#38; Schuster, 2009) is set during the beginning of World War I, and follows many of the historical events of World War I.  A big part of what makes this novel so interesting is that it mirrors familiar events yet turns them on their head with imaginative techno-creativity.  Young Prince Aleks, son of Archduke Ferdinand, must flee for his life after his parents are assassinated.   He makes his escape to Switzerland in a steam-powered &#8220;Stormwalker,&#8221; a vehicle similar to a Star War&#8217;s AT-ST:                                                                    Deryn, the female protagonist, lives in England, a &#8220;Darwinist Power&#8221; which uses genetically altered animals to double as weapons.  For example, they have genetically altered whales so they can be used as giant airships&#8211;hence the name Leviathan.  Deryn wants to join the Air Corps which is barred to females so he disguises herself as a boy, gets accepted, and proves to be a top notch flyer.  Deryn is soon entrusted with a secret mission, which grinds to [...]]]></description>
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		<title>A Modern Time Wrinkle: Rebecca Stead&#8217;s When You Reach Me</title>
		<link>http://greatbooksforchildren.com/541/a-modern-time-wrinkle-rebecca-steads-when-you-reach-me?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=a-modern-time-wrinkle-rebecca-steads-when-you-reach-me</link>
		<comments>http://greatbooksforchildren.com/541/a-modern-time-wrinkle-rebecca-steads-when-you-reach-me#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 27 Feb 2010 22:36:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Smoore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Friendship Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Newbery Medal Winners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[School Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science Fiction/Fantasy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://greatbooksforchildren.com/?p=541</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ I first heard about Rebecca Stead&#8217;s When You Reach Me (Random House 2009) from a  book editor who said, &#8220;There is so much buzz about this book, I think it might win the Newbery.&#8221;  Set in the 70&#8242;s in New York City, the story centers on sixth grade Miranda and her best friend Sal.  Miranda (a girl) and Sal (a boy) live in the same apartment complex, both are from single-mom families, and they&#8217;ve been best friends forever.  Then one day Sal gets punched in the face by a random kid on the street, and suddenly Sal wants nothing to do with Miranda.  Miranda&#8217;s on her own and has to learn how to make new friends and fit in.  There is so much going on in this novel I hardly know where to start.  It&#8217;s a coming of age story, it&#8217;s a story about mother/daughter relationships, it&#8217;s a story about friendship.  But it&#8217;s also a mystery with unexplainable, unsigned letters, a missing apartment key, and a crazy homeless guy on the corner, all wrapped up with a sci-fi twist a la Madeleine L&#8217;Engle&#8217;s A Wrinkle in Time. When You Reach Me has a bit of a retro feel, kind of like the 70&#8242;s style t-shirts I [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Twins and Time Travel:  The Magic Half by Annie Barrows</title>
		<link>http://greatbooksforchildren.com/618/twins-and-time-travel-the-magic-half-by-annie-barrows?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=twins-and-time-travel-the-magic-half-by-annie-barrows</link>
		<comments>http://greatbooksforchildren.com/618/twins-and-time-travel-the-magic-half-by-annie-barrows#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:41:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Smoore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Action/Adventure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Friendship Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science Fiction/Fantasy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://greatbooksforchildren.com/?p=618</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When you&#8217;re a sister sandwiched between two sets of twins, you pretty much get ignored.  It&#8217;s the twins everyone finds interesting, they&#8217;re the novelty&#8211;you&#8217;re just an extra.  At least that&#8217;s how Miri feels in The Magic Half (Bloomsbury, 2008).  This middle grade novel by Annie Barrows weaves a story of family and friendship with a unique time travel twist (and a surprise ending to boot).   When Miri&#8217;s family moves to a new house, Miri has no one to hang out with.  Older brothers Ray and Robbie, and younger sisters Nell and Nora, all have built-in friends, their twin.  Mom and dad are swamped with work and unpacking.  So Miri, a girl with &#8221;a dazzling imaginative capacity&#8221;  is on her own.    Soon Miri finds herself in trouble.  She hits her brother with a shovel and gets sent to her room.  Miri&#8217;s old, quirky bedroom with its ugly orange and purple wallpaper was once part of the attic.  Miri explores the room and discovers a small piece of pinkish glass. As Miri looks through the glass, the room seems &#8220;to bend and collapse in the middle, as though the center of the house were being sucked into a whirlpool.&#8221;  Miri has been transported to 1935.  She&#8217;s in the same bedroom, but it looks completely [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Catching Fire after The Hunger Games &#8211; Suzanne Collins</title>
		<link>http://greatbooksforchildren.com/526/catching-fire-after-the-hunger-games-suzanne-collins?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=catching-fire-after-the-hunger-games-suzanne-collins</link>
		<comments>http://greatbooksforchildren.com/526/catching-fire-after-the-hunger-games-suzanne-collins#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:39:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Smoore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Action/Adventure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science Fiction/Fantasy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[YA (Young Adult)]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://greatbooksforchildren.com/?p=526</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For those of you who loved The Hunger Games, author Suzanne Collins has written a sequel, Catching Fire (Scholastic, 2009).  The story picks up where Hunger Games left off, with Katniss awkwardly trying to choose between Peeta and Gale and living a life of ease as a Hunger Games champion. But things start to fall apart when Katniss discovers that her and Peeta&#8217;s dual survival was seen as an act of rebellion and has encouraged uprisings in several districts.  The Capitol cracks down and life becomes even more oppressive, something Katniss thought impossible.  Not surprisingly, Katniss&#8217; first instinct is to survive, to stay out of trouble and keep her family alive. But the President  of the Capitol is determined to make Katniss pay, and once again she finds herself in the Arena.  She is selected to compete in the Quarterly Quell, a fight-to-the-death battle that occurs every twenty-five years, only this time competitors are chosen from prior Hunger Games champions. Katniss must battle against the best of the best.  And the Capitol government fully intends to use the Quell to display their absolute power and to kill Katniss as a public and painful example of what happens to those who defy the Capitol.   Again Katniss must use her skill and wits in [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Survival of the Fittest:  The Hunger Games</title>
		<link>http://greatbooksforchildren.com/511/survival-of-the-fittest-the-hunger-games?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=survival-of-the-fittest-the-hunger-games</link>
		<comments>http://greatbooksforchildren.com/511/survival-of-the-fittest-the-hunger-games#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:38:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Smoore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Action/Adventure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science Fiction/Fantasy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[YA (Young Adult)]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://greatbooksforchildren.com/?p=511</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Amazing Race, American Idol, Project Runway, The Biggest Loser, Man vs. Wild, Dancing with the Stars&#8211;reality shows are all over television.  But what if winning Survivor meant being the last one left alive?  What if the bloody battles of the Roman gladiators had been broadcast as reality TV?  Reality TV meets Lord of the Flies in the gripping new YA thriller The Hunger Games (Scholastic, 2008) by Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games takes place in a brutal and harsh future.  North America has been decimated by war.   One central Capitol rules in tyranny over twelve districts.  Broken by their failed rebellion, starving and deprived, the districts are forced to send their resources to the Capitol:  coal, jewels, grain, weapons.  The Capitol controls the food supply, the economy, the government, the media. As punishment for rebellion, the twelve districts must also send an annual tribute to the Capitol:  one girl and one boy, twenty-four in all, each of whom will fight to the death in the annual televised &#8220;Hunger Games.&#8221;  The voyeurism of reality TV takes a grotesque twist as citizens tune in&#8211;some by choice, some by forced decree&#8211;to watch the 74th Annual Hunger Games. Sixteen year old Katmiss and her family live in District 12.  Poverty and hunger ravage most [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>YA Thriller:  The Adoration of Jenna Fox</title>
		<link>http://greatbooksforchildren.com/488/ya-thriller-the-adoration-of-jenna-fox?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=ya-thriller-the-adoration-of-jenna-fox</link>
		<comments>http://greatbooksforchildren.com/488/ya-thriller-the-adoration-of-jenna-fox#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:42:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Smoore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Science Fiction/Fantasy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[YA (Young Adult)]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://greatbooksforchildren.com/?p=488</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson (Henry Holt, 2008) is a fantastic young adult book&#8211;a sci-fi novel that has the creepy thrill of a scary movie.  Teenager Jenna Fox wakes from a coma to discover that she remembers nothing of her past.  She has to relearn how to talk, walk, eat, live.  Her adoring parents have taken video after video of her childhood, and Jenna watches old family movies of herself in an attempt to discover who she is, or at least who she was.  But bit by bit, Jenna realizes things don&#8217;t add up.  Her parents are lying to her.  She senses that her once loving grandmother is hostile.  Jenna tries to search online about herself and her accident only to find that her parents have locked it so she can&#8217;t access the information.  The novel is set in a futuristic California where super-bacteria have become completely resistant to antibiotics.  Bio-engineering has developed dramatic medical solutions to try to save lives.  But at what cost?  Just how far should you go to save someone you love? As Jenna searches for answers, she finds herself coming up with more and more questions:  &#8221;Who am I?&#8221;  &#8220;What is a soul?&#8221;  &#8220;Do I even have one?&#8221;  &#8220;What does it mean to be human?&#8221;  &#8220;What makes me, me?&#8221; I don&#8217;t [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson</title>
		<link>http://greatbooksforchildren.com/113/mistborn-by-brandon-sanderson?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=mistborn-by-brandon-sanderson</link>
		<comments>http://greatbooksforchildren.com/113/mistborn-by-brandon-sanderson#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 31 Jan 2009 03:59:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Smoore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Action/Adventure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science Fiction/Fantasy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[YA (Young Adult)]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://greatbooksforchildren.com/?p=113</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (Tor 2006).  I just finished this fantasy novel at the recommendation of a reader comment (see comments for the November post &#8221;Luke Skywalker vs. Edward Cullen&#8221;).  Mistborn is Book 2 of Brandon Sanderson&#8217;s epic fantasy series, and it&#8217;s a great read.  The main character Kelsier combines the brash devil-may-care adventurism of Indiana Jones with the roguery of Robin Hood and the fighting talents of a ninja as he battles against the evil Lord Ruler.    The capital city of Luthadel, reminiscent of Dicken&#8217;s industrial England, is a filthy city full of crowded slums where the people known as skaa live enslaved to a corrupt noble class.  These nobles in turn are controlled by the Lord Ruler and his reign of terror.  The dashing Kelsier and his band of thieves combine forces with the skaa rebellion to overthrow the government.  They plot the ultimate heist-the overthrow of the government and a raid on the treasury which they believe is full of the priceless metal atium.   Why does Kelsier think he can win against impossible odds that have defeated so many?  Because Kelsier is a Mistborn-an elite magician who has the abilities to &#8220;burn&#8221; ingested metals to activate his [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Edward Cullen vs. Luke Skywalker</title>
		<link>http://greatbooksforchildren.com/3/edward-cullen-vs-luke-skywalker?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=edward-cullen-vs-luke-skywalker</link>
		<comments>http://greatbooksforchildren.com/3/edward-cullen-vs-luke-skywalker#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:13:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Smoore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Action/Adventure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science Fiction/Fantasy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[YA (Young Adult)]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[I thought long and hard about the topic for my very first blog.  Something special.  Relevant.  A fascinating topic with mass appeal.  So it had to be Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight.    The just-released blockbuster movie is raking in major bucks ($70.5 million in the first week alone).  Meanwhile Robert Pattison (vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen) has been attacked by rabid female fans, crazed-Beatle-mania style.  Not sure he realized what he got himself into when he decided to be the repository for all women’s dreams.   Stephenie Meyer’s phenomenally best-selling clean-teen books, Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn, are a cross between a romance and an action thriller.  They tap into female’s deepest desires for the perfect man.  So he’s a vampire.  Who cares?  Finally the homely, nobody girl wins the hottest, sweetest, smartest, most romantic boy in the whole school (ok, in the whole world).  Ah, the joys of fiction, where dreams really do come true, and Cinderella really does meet and marry her handsome prince.   But what about the boys?  I’ve heard of a few guys who read and even enjoyed Meyer’s books.  I’ve even heard of a few more who dared to be seen at the movie.  [...]]]></description>
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