Bloom By: Kenneth Oppel

Genre: Science Fiction
Age Recommendation: Grade 6+

Welcome to Salt Springs Island, British Columbia.  It's a small community, where our three main characters, Petra, Anaya, and Seth live.  Anaya is very intelligent and suffers from a number of allergies and severe acne. Petra is beautiful and popular, but must contend with being allergic to water. Seth is in foster care and has fantastical dreams and a series of scars down his arms.  A heavy rain comes to Salt Springs, in fact, in comes to almost every place on Earth.  Shortly after the rain, black grass begins to grow everywhere around the world.  As everyone struggles to deal with this otherworldly plant, Anaya, Petra, and Seth notice themselves not only changing, but immune to the harmful side effects of the black grass.  Can the trio help to find the solution to dealing with these plants?  Read this exciting first book in the "Bloom" trilogy to find out!

The Factory By: Catharine Egan

Genre: Science Fiction
Age Recommendation: Grade 7/8

"The Factory" is a Red Maple 2026 nominee. This is a fast-paced, futuristic story where climate challenges have left many people in climate refugee camps. The main character, Asher, lives with his Nan.  His mom is in his life, but she tends to be impulsive and isn't a stable figure.  When she gets herself into big financial trouble with dangerous people, Asher's father suggests that Asher would be the perfect candidate for a top-secret experiment.  The pay is more than enough to cover his mom's debts and improve life for his whole family.  Asher doesn't want to go, but does as he sees no other way out for his mom.  Asher soons makes friends at the research facility and they begin to unravel what is really happening there.  I am not typically a fan of this genre, but found this story to be engaging.  I enjoyed trying to figure out what was really happening at The Factory.

Mortal Engines By: Philip Reeve

Genre:  Science Fiction - Steampunk Future
Age Recommendation:  Grade 7/8 - YA

In Mortal Engines, we are introduced to the future of the world where cities travel around finding smaller towns and devouring them.  London is a great city, whose mayor says in on the verge of holding even more power.  At what cost will the city achieve this greatness?  Who is Hester Shaw and why is her face so scarred?  Although this is a genre that I would not usually read, it is an interesting concept with plenty of adventure and excitement.  This book is the first in the Mortal Engines series and if you enjoy this series, you can also read the prequel series beginning with Fever Crumb.

Click: One Novel Ten Authors

Genre:  Realistic Fiction/Science Fiction
Age Recommendation:  Grade 6+

Each chapter of Click is written by a different author.  Authors of this book include Deborah Ellis, Eoin Colfer, and Linda Sue Park.  The characters in the book are all connected to George Keane or Gee as he is most well known.  Gee, who was a well-known photographer, has recently passed away and each chapter helps us to learn more about Gee and the lives he has touched.  I enjoyed most of the chapters but found that the science fiction/futuristic chapters were a little difficult to follow and didn't necessarily fit with the rest of the story.  Overall this is an interesting read.

Timeless - Diego & The Rangers of the Vastlantic By: Armand Baltazar

Genre: Science Fiction
Age Recommendation: Grade 7/8

This futuristic story that takes place after a "time collision" has occurred on earth contains several coloured illustrations to accompany the text.  The "time collision" meant that, not only the earth's map changed, but people and creatures from all time periods found themselves living together.  For example, Victorian era people now live alongside people from our time period and dinosaurs.  It's a very original basis for the story.  Most people are getting along and working together in this new world, however, there are people who want to change things back to the way they were before the "time collision".  The leader of these people is Magnus, who captures Diego's father and tries to force him to build a machine that will repair the timeline.  This sets off a series of exciting adventures for Diego and his friends as they try to rescue Diego's father.  This is a unique and interesting story with lots of action.  It is labelled YA because there is occasional use of swearing, which really is unnecessary to the story.

Baboon By: David Jones

Genre: Science Fiction

Age Recommendation: Grade 5+

Gerry's parents study baboons in Africa, so he spends part of the year in the African wilderness with them.  On a trip to the African veldt, there is a storm and the plane crashes Gerry is in crashes. He is seriously injured and ends up in a baboon's body! Will he ever get back to his own body?

City of Ember By: Jeanne DuPrau

Genre: Science Fiction

Age Recommendation: Grade 5+

Ember is a dilapidated city. Supplies are running low and the lights keep going out. Lina is worried about this. Then she finds a message that describes a way out of Ember. Will she and her friend, Doon, be able to find the way out before the city shuts down for good? This is a very enjoyable, well written story. It is the first book in a four book series. The book has been made into a movie, but it doesn't do the story justice.

The Giver By: Lois Lowry

Genre: YA/Science Fiction

Age Recommendation: Grade 7/8

Jonas lives in a community where every aspect of life is perfectly controlled. There is no pain or violence. When Jonas is assigned the role of Receiver of Memory, he quickly learns some shocking things about his society and begins to question how things are done. Honestly, I was not a fan of futuristic, dystopian fiction, but this book changed that. It is a real page turner. If you enjoy this story, it is just the beginning of the series, "Gathering Blue", "Messenger" and "Son" are the other titles to look for.

Broken Angel By: Sigmund Brouwer

Genre: YA/Science Fiction

Age Recommendation: Grade 7-8

This is the futuristic story about Caitlyn who is trying to understand how she is different from others. Caitlyn also struggles to comprehend why her father needs to protect her from those who want to hurt her because of her differences. This is the fast paced first book of a series. Readers will be intrigued and surprised when they learn how and why Caitlyn is different.

A Wrinkle in Time By: Madeleine L’Engle

Genre: Science Fiction

Age Recommendation: Grade 5+

Meg has a hard time at school. She has trouble fitting in. Her family has a lot to deal with when you consider that her father disappeared while experimenting with time travel. But everything is about to change for Meg because she and her brother are about to travel through time to rescue their father. On this journey, they will meet unusual characters and Meg will have to overcome her fears and learn to believe in herself. This is a very original story and quite interesting. The book was published in 1962, so the language is a little dated and at times can be challenging to follow. Readers may want to start with the graphic novel version first.