Suggested Readings

Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card

This multiple-award-winning book is Card’s masterpiece.  Ender Wiggin is a thoughtful, peaceful boy, who is thrust into training for war against the alien species known as the “buggers.”

War training is approached as a game, and Ender is a genius, winning every game.  Yet while it’s easy to think of this book as just a sci-fi story, you would

be overlooking the emotional strength which characterizes a great book of any genre.

Although technically written as a young adult novel, over the past twenty years this book has thrilled readers of all ages.  It’s a powerful and compelling tale.

The Giver, by Lois Lowry

Another major award-winner and another great novel that stretches across all age groups.

Jonas is twelve-years old, living in a utopian world.  There is no disease, no hunger, no poverty.  With this backdrop, you know that something is coming around the corner…and it does, when Jonas is selected as his community’s “Receiver of Memories.”

Suddenly Lowry’s story begins to shed light on our concepts of a perfect world, and the hypocrisy behind that utopia.  It’s a frightening, yet entertaining book, and deserving of the Newbery Medal for literature.

Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke

This action/adventure book falls under the science fiction category, but could just as easily be listed as a mystery story.

An alien spacecraft is discovered rocketing through the solar system, and a ship from Earth is quickly dispatched to intercept it and explore the inside.  Dubbed “Rama,” the alien ship is immense beyond belief, and filled with fascinating details.  The human explorers have a very small window of time to solve the inner mysteries before Rama zips onward, out of the solar system.

This book won every major sci-fi award when it was published, and continues to rank as one of the all-time classics.  It’s a total page-turner, and the ending will leave you breathless.  But don’t read ahead!!!

A Wrinkle In Time, by Madeleine L’Engle

Well, what do you know, another Newbery Medal winner.  In this beloved classic, Meg and her brother Charles team up with Mrs Whatsit and their friend Calvin in a whirlwind adventure.  They’re searching for Meg and Charles’ father, a prominent physicist who has disappeared.

But they quickly encounter an evil force that threatens their world, and they must summon all of their courage and energy to solve the mystery.