The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy #1)

Seconds before Earth is demolished to make room for a galactic freeway, an earthman is saved by his friend. Together they journey through the galaxy.

Recommended by Mr. Giles: “It’s outside the box.”

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Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen #1)

In a world divided by blood—those with common, Red blood serve the Silver-blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities—Mare, a Red, discovers she has an ability of her own. To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. But Mare risks everything and uses her new position to help the growing Red rebellion, even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction.

Recommended by Ms. Charpentier, Librarian: “Reading this book felt like reading The Hunger Games for the first time.”

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Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis (Space Trilogy #1)

A literature and language scholar is kidnapped and taken via space-ship from England to Malacandra, where he escapes and goes on the run.

Recommended by Mrs. Woislaw, ELL Teacher: “It is an interesting early science fiction book which touches on themes from his Chronicles of Narnia and also explores philology through explaining terms from the alien language.”

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Cinder by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles #1)

Cinder, a gifted mechanic and a cyborg with a mysterious past, is blamed by her stepmother for her stepsister's illness while a deadly plague decimates the population of New Beijing, but when Cinder's life gets intertwined with Prince Kai's, she finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle.

Recommended by a UHS student: “It's a great sci-fi adaptation of a classic fairy tale, many of the characters in the book (and series overall) are minorities. It’s engaging and funny, and it's extremely insightful.”

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Zoo by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge (Zoo #1)

As coordinated attacks by animals against humans increase and escalate, young biologist Jackson Oz and ecologist Chloe Tousignant warn world leaders that soon there will be no place for humans to hide.

Recommended by a UHS student.

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The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #1)

A wizard named Rincewind is pursued, not by a deadly messenger, but by Death himself while guiding a tourist through the unique land of Discworld.

Recommended by a UHS student.

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The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly

It is a secret the Chinese government has been keeping for forty years. They have proven the existence of dragons—a landmark discovery no one could ever believe is real, and a scientific revelation that will amaze the world. Now the Chinese are ready to unveil their astonishing findings within the greatest zoo ever constructed.

Recommended by Mr. Worden, Science Teacher: “It’s like Jurassic Park but with dragons. It’s great.”

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Contact by Carl Sagan

Scientist Eleanor Arroway risks her life and reputation in an attempt to respond when radio telescopes on Earth receive a signal indicating the existence of life twenty-six light-years away in the vicinity of the star Vega.

Recommended by UHS students: “So good. Also: aliens.”

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Firstlife by Gena Showalter (Everlife #1)

Ten Lockwood has spent the past thirteen months locked inside the Prynne Asylum. The reason? Not her obsession with numbers, but her refusal to let her parents choose where she'll live—after she dies.

Recommended by a UHS student.

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