Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books For Kids Age 9 to 13

Looking to inspire your tween’s interest in reading? Here are some recommended fantasy and Sci-Fi books for middle-grade readers.

To say that Max is an avid reader would be an understatement. This kid chews through 3-4 hefty books each week. He reads so much that we actually have to set limits on his reading time, otherwise he’d just get up from eating his bowl of cereal at breakfast and read right through until bedtime.

Max has pretty much read through the entire library system’s middle-grade fiction and much of the young adult fiction. So now he’s reading some adult fiction and whatever he finds in our free library. And this is where the problem lies… I cannot possibly keep up with him. I have never heard of most of the books he’s reading, and I mostly just trust that he can judge for himself whether it’s appropriate.

So I’m hoping for some recommendations. If you have book suggestions for Max and other avid tween readers, please share them either in the comments below or on the Berries & Barnacles Facebook Page.

In the meantime, I asked Max to share a list of his favorite books. Since most of them were Sci-Fi or Fantasy books, we just went with that.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Books for Kids Age 9-13

Kids love fantasy, and it’s not just due to the influence of Harry Potter. It’s a bridge to the imaginative world of childhood. So it’s not a surprise that most of Max’s favourite books involve fantastical worlds.

Here are his favourite books with brief descriptions that he wrote himself. (Already roping him into the family business at age 11…)

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• The Inheritance Cycle Series by Christopher Paolini is a lovely adventure story set in a mystical world. It describes the story of a young hunter being forced into an adventure that he wished had never happened. It’s a long series and allows someone to start on any book in the series because of the synopses at the start of each book.
• The Disc World Series by Terry Pratchett is funny and cunning. It makes the evolution of a fantastic world look like a comedy. Each separate book can be read in any order because it describes a new set of main characters every time.
• The Heroes of Olympus Series by Rick Riordan has great middle-grade humour. It mixes modern fantasy and Greek mythology to create a story that replays lots of common and uncommon tales for the 7 teenage demigod characters.
• The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is set on Earth but quickly changes to other planets and different settings. It’s hilarious and full of plot twists. You never know what’s going to happen next, making for an exciting adventure.
• Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling is not unlike Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance cycle series but set in modern times. It builds up the ending from the start. This series has suspense that makes every chapter a cliffhanger.