Upham Library Book Lists: Science Fiction

Joe Stoshack is beginning to think life can't get much worse. The thing he likes best in the whole world is baseball. He knows everything there is to know about the game...except how to hit home runs. His specialty seems to be striking out. But Joe's life is about to change in the most amazing way. . . When Joe gets a job cleaning old Miss Young's attic he's not too happy about it. The place is filled with tons of worthless trash, and he's only getting paid $5 for hauling it out. Suddenly Joe finds a little piece of cardboard. He's holding the world's most valuable baseball card. Joe is rich-really rich-but it's more than that. Suddenly-strangely-Joe is face-to-face with the player on the card...traveling through time with one of the greatest ballplayers who ever lived. Joe Stoshack is beginning to think life can't get much worse. The thing he likes best in the whole world is baseball. He knows everything there is to know about the game...except how to hit home runs. His specialty seems to be striking out. But Joe's life is about to change in the most amazing way. . . When Joe gets a job cleaning old Miss Young's attic he's not too happy about it. The place is filled with tons of worthless trash, and he's only getting paid $5 for hauling it out. Suddenly Joe finds a little piece of cardboard. He's holding the world's most valuable baseball card. Joe is rich-really rich-but it's more than that. Suddenly-strangely-Joe is face-to-face with the player on the card...traveling through time with one of the greatest ballplayers who ever lived.

He was the world's greatest athlete, and a hero—until his medals were taken away. Stosh is shocked when his enemy, Bobby Fuller, begs him for a favor. He wants Stosh to take him back in time to meet Native American Jim Thorpe—an Olympic champion who lost his medals in a scandal. Thorpe went on to play professional baseball and football, but he could never again achieve such fame. His name was disgraced. Join Stosh and Fuller on a quest to save Jim's reputation. You'll meet Christy Mathewson, John McGraw, and the rest of the New York Giants in this eighth exciting, action-packed baseball card adventure!

Joe Stoshack's dad has been in a car accident! When Stosh visits him in the hospital, his dad tells him about the great Mickey Mantle and an unfortunate fall in Yankee Stadium that changed Mantle's career. "I've been thinking about it for a long time. Go back to 1951. You can warn him. You're the only one who can do it," Dad whispers. So while baby-sitting his younger cousin, Samantha, Stosh sits down with a baseball card in hand, ready to travel through time. But when he opens his eyes, he's not in Yankee Stadium -- he's in Milwaukee on June 8, 1944. Stosh is seven years early and in the wrong town. What has gone wrong? You'll be on the edge of your seatfor Joe Stoshacks fifth amazingbaseball card adventure!

Sometimes you can change history . . . and sometimes history can change you. When Stosh travels into the past to meet Roberto Clemente, a legendary ballplayer and a beloved humanitarian, he's got only one goal: warning Roberto not to get on the doomed plane that will end his life in a terrible crash. In the sixties, Stosh meets free-spirited Sunrise, and together they travel across the country to a ball game that leaves them breathless—and face-to-face with Roberto. But when the time comes for Stosh to return to the future, he finds that the adventure has only just begun. . . . Join Stosh and Sunrise on a journey that will take you into the past, from the excitement of Woodstock to a life-changing encounter with Roberto Clemente—and into a surprising future!

Since Joe Stoshack first traveled back in time through a baseball card to meet Honus Wagner, he knew he had a special gift. So when sports card shop owner Flip tells Stosh all about his hero, Shoeless Joe Jackson -- about the scandal that destroyed the star player's career -- Stosh gets an idea. If he travels back in time with a 1919 baseball card in his hand, he just might be able to prevent the infamous Black Sox Scandal from ever taking place. And if he could do that, Shoeless Joe Jackson-one of the greatest players in the history of the game -- would finally take his place in the Baseball Hall of Fame, where he truly belongs. But can Stosh prevent that tempting envelope full of gambling money from making its way to Shoeless Joe's hotel room before the big game?

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Ten-year-old Akiko has an unexpected adventure when she is whisked away to a distant planet and put in charge of the rescue mission that must search for the kidnapped Prince Froptoppit.

Professor Spitzer, a famous inventor turned mad scientist, is plotting to take over the world. Only Captain Cal and his crew can stop Professor Spitzer and his crazy robot army. This is one battle Cal is not going to lose!

The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human race. Two hundred years later, the great lamps that light the city are beginning to flicker. When Lina finds part of an ancient message, she’s sure it holds a secret that will save the city. She and her friend Doon must decipher the message before the lights go out on Ember forever! This stunning debut novel offers refreshingly clear writing and fascinating, original characters.

So my only protection is a kindergarten teacher and a ninety-eight-pound female minister....And they don't even believe I'm in danger. As Bethany approaches her thirteenth birthday, her parents begin acting more oddly than usual: Her mother cries constantly, and her father barely lets Bethany out of his sight. Then one morning he hustles the entire family into the car, drives across several state lines -- and leaves Bethany with an aunt she never knew existed. Bethany has no idea what's going on. She's worried that her mom and dad are running from some kind of trouble, but she can't find out because they won't tell her where they are going. Bethany's only clue is a few words she overheard her father tell her aunt Myrlie: "She doesn't know anything about Elizabeth." But Aunt Myrlie won't tell Bethany who Elizabeth is, and she won't explain why people in her small town react to Bethany as if they've seen a ghost. The mystery intensifies when Bethany gets a package from her father containing four different birth certificates from four states, with four different last names -- and thousands of dollars in cash. And when a strange man shows up asking questions, Bethany realizes she's not the only one who's desperate to unravel the secrets of her past. In this exhilarating thriller, Margaret Peterson Haddix crafts a taut story so full of twists and turns, readers will be gripped until the startling conclusion.

Tendai, his little sister and their younger brother escape from their splendid home to explore their dangerous city. Tendai is motivated by wanting to earn a scouting badge, and he desperately wants to prove himself, as their overprotective father has always placed tight restrictions on what the siblings can and can't do.

Wiley Miller's comic strip, "Non Sequitur," is syndicated in more than 800 daily newspapers. Now he presents his first book for young readers--an exciting adventure about a boy who saves the world. Talented and well-known syndicated comic strip artist Wiley Miller presents a stunningly illustrated tale of a boy who is bored by his life and ready to break free from the lighthouse he calls home. Led off by a wonderfully eccentric professor in a hot-air-balloon ship, Basil travels to another dimension where he and a new friend save the fantasy city of Helios from destruction.

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Thirteen-year-old Jonah has always known that he was adopted, and he's never thought it was any big deal. Then he and a new friend, Chip, who's also adoped, begin receiving mysterious letters. The first one says, "You are one of the missing." The second one says, "Beware They're coming back to get you." Jonah, Chip, and Jonah's sister, Katherine, are plunged into a mystery that involves the FBI, a vast smuggling operation, an airplane that appeared out of nowhere -- and people who seem to appear and disappear at will. The kids discover they are caught in a battle between two opposing forces that want very different things for Jonah and Chip's lives. Do Jonah and Chip have any choice in the matter? And what should they choose when both alternatives are horrifying? With "Found," Margaret Peterson Haddix begins a new series that promises to be every bit as suspenseful as her "Shadow Children" series -- which has sold more than 41/2 million copies -- and proves her, once again, to be a master of the page-turner.

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The Giver, the 1994 Newbery Medal winner, has become one of the most influential novels of our time. The haunting story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. Lois Lowry has written three companion novels to The Giver, including Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son.

In Heir Apparent there are as many ways to win as there are to get killed. Giannine can testify to how many ways there are to die--it's about all she's been able to do since she started playing. Now all she has to do is get the magic ring, find the stolen treasure, answer the dwarf's dumb riddles, come up with a poem for the head-chopping statue, cope with the army of ghosts, outmaneuver her half brothers, and defeat the man-eating dragon. If she can do all of that, why, she just might save her own life!

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Get to know Galaxy Zack-and his new home planet!-in this start to an out-of-this-world illustrated chapter book series. In Hello, Nebulon!, Zack makes the big move from Earth. He is already nervous about starting school and making new friends, but it only gets worse when he dreams that his classmates are slimy aliens with tentacles, pizza comes covered in gross bugs, and he can never communicate with his Earth friends again! Fortunately, when Zack arrives at Sprockets Academy for his first day of school, he meets and befriends Drake Tucker, a Nebulite boy who also loves to explore and learn about the planets. Nebulon isn't as awful as Zack's dream, but there are a lot of differences between Nebulon and Earth, and they make Zack miss his home in Dubbsville, Texas, even more. But things start to look up when he receives a mysterious surprise. What could it possibly be? With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Galaxy Zack chapter books are perfect for beginning readers.

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HIGHER INSTITUTE OF VILLAINOUS EDUCATION Otto Malpense may only be thirteen years old, but so far he has managed to run the orphanage where he lives, and he has come up with a plan clever enough to trick the most powerful man in the country. He is the perfect candidate to become the world's next supervillain. That is why he ends up at H.I.V.E., handpicked to become a member of the incoming class. The students have been kidnapped and brought to a secluded island inside a seemingly active volcano, where the school has resided for decades. All the kids are elite; they are the most athletic, the most technically advanced, and the smartest in the country. Inside the cavernous marble rooms, floodlit hangars, and steel doors, the students are enrolled in Villainy Studies and Stealth and Evasion 101. But what Otto soon comes to realize is that this is a six-year program, and leaving is not an option. With the help of his new friends: an athletic martial-arts expert; a world-famous, beautiful diamond thief; and a spunky computer genius -- the only other people who seem to want to leave -- can Otto achieve what has never been done before and break out of H.I.V.E.?

This modern classic takes on an iron-fisted drug lord, clones bred for their organs, and what it means to be human. Winner of the National Book Award as well as Newbery and Printz Honors. Matteo Alacrán was not born; he was harvested. His DNA came from El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium-a strip of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once called Mexico. Matt's first cell split and divided inside a petri dish. Then he was placed in the womb of a cow, where he continued the miraculous journey from embryo to fetus to baby. He is a boy now, but most consider him a monster-except for El Patrón. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself. As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters, including El Patrón's power-hungry family, and he is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards. Escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. But escape from the Alacrán Estate is no guarantee of freedom, because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect.

A contemporary take on the classic creature-feature genre. INFESTATION is a thrilling, fast-paced story that will leave your skin crawling. When Andy Greenwood is sent to the Reclamation School for Boys he expects the lousy food, mean drill sergeant instructors, and brutal bullies. What he doesn't expect is an infestation of weirdly large and aggressive ants, or the itching welts all over the staff and students. Even odder, Andy learns that kids never leave the school when they're supposed to. They just seem to get stuck there indefinitely. Following a ground-splitting earthquake, however, things quickly go from bad to horrifying. The school is overrun by monstrous bugs, and Andy himself comes face to face with mutant ants the size of humans, equipped with pinchers that can cut steel. Trapped in a cinderblock institutional building in the New Mexico desert, miles from civilization, Andy must figure out a way to save himself and the surviving boys from this nightmare.

From Ted Hughes, England's Poet Laureate,  Knopf is proud to present a children's classic which has been unavailable in the U.S. for many years.  First published in 1968, The Iron Giant is a modern fantasy about a massive giant who stalks the earth devouring metal, terrifying farmers and townspeople everywhere. Despite his insatiable hunger, the Iron Giant is quite gentle and good-natured, though the townspeople are too frightened of him to realize it.  So they capture him and put him in a scrapyard, where he happily stuffs himself with stoves and bicycles.  The people forget about the Iron Giant until a space-bat the size of Australia hovers over the earth, poised to destroy it.  Earth needs a hero and only the Iron Giant is big enough and brave enough to do battle with the hideous creature from outer space.  With a tractor-eating giant, a menacing space-bat, and a young boy-hero, The Iron Giant is an accessible, early chapter book with plenty of appeal for reluctant readers and budding science fiction and fantasy fans.

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Having defeated the rampaging robots in The Junkyard Bot, George is thrilled to score his dream internship at Tinker Tech. But he and his best pal, Jackbot, realize that something does not compute when a dangerous new invention threatens Terabyte Heights. As he and his friends search for answers, they uncover secrets about George's past that may change his life . . . forever.         Robots, engineering, and buddy stories have never been this cool, or this much fun. Perfect for restless readers who crave gizmos, gadgets, and mystery by the megabyte! Visit www.robotsrulebooks.com to learn more.  

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"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?" When this peculiar ad appears in the newspaper, dozens of children enroll to take a series of mysterious, mind-bending tests. (And you, dear reader, can test your wits right alongside them.) But in the end just four very special children will succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and resourceful children could complete. To accomplish it they will have to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules. As our heroes face physical and mental trials beyond their wildest imaginations, they have no choice but to turn to each other for support. But with their newfound friendship at stake, will they be able to pass the most important test of all? Welcome to the Mysterious Benedict Society.

From "New York Times" bestselling author Allegra Goodman comes a post apocalyptic novel about love, loss, and the power of human choice. Honor and her parents have been reassigned to live on Island 365 in the Tranquil Sea. Life is peaceful there--the color of the sky is regulated by Earth Mother, a corporation that controls New Weather, and it almost never rains. Everyone fits into their rightful and predictable place. . . . Except Honor. She doesn't fit in, but then she meets Helix, a boy with a big heart and a keen sense for the world around them. Slowly, Honor and Helix begin to uncover a terrible truth about life on the Island: Sooner or later, those who are unpredictable disappear . . . and they don't ever come back. The Other Side of the Island has been named a Best Book of 2008 by the "LA Times, Washington Post, and Village Voice."

A magical crime saga filled with marvelous thrills, high action, and extraordinary adventure, from critically acclaimed author Matthew J. Kirby. After Ben Warner is recruited to join a "science camp" led by the eccentric quantum physicist Dr. Madeleine Hughes, he quickly realizes it's no regular science camp. Along with his new friend, Peter, Ben discovers the secret, powerful art of Actuation -- the ability to change reality by simply imagining it differently. When a mysterious group of men invade Dr. Hughes's laboratory, abducting her and stealing her precious equipment, Ben and Peter are suddenly caught up in a turf war between dangerous actuators desperate for Dr. Hughes's innovative technology. And as Ben and Peter are pulled into a perilous, hidden world full of impossibilities now made possible, will their combined powers be enough to save Dr. Hughes and vanquish their enemies before it's too late? From Edgar Award-winning author Matthew J. Kirby comes a fast-paced, boldly imagined tale of friendship, deadly adventure, and the infinite power of imagination.

Sixth-grader Simon Bloom can't believe his luck when he finds a book that enables him to control the laws of physics. By simply reciting the formulas it contains, he can cancel gravity to fly around his bedroom, or decrease friction so he can slide down the street as if he were on Rollerblades. When two thugs with evil intentions come after Simon, he must use the formulas to save himself and the book from falling into their hands. This funny, fast, and imaginative novel from first-time author Michael Reisman will appeal to fans of both fantasy and action-adventure.

STORM is a gadget-packed, high-adrenaline adventureaa middlegrade spy novel sure to leave readers white-knuckled and breathless. Itas also the name of the ambitious organization formed by the storyas three brainiac kids: Will, the loner, inventive genius, and creator of cutting-edge gadgets. Andrew, the software whiz-kid, millionaire, and fashion disaster. Gaia, the brilliant and mysterious teen chemist, fluent in French, Italian, Mandarin, and blowing stuff up. Will first scoffs at STORMas grand plans to combat global strife. But when the group uncovers a plot to create a deadly revolutionary weapon, the three race from England to Russia, determined not only to find and dismantle the weapon, but to confront the psychopathic scientist behind it all.

You ever open your locker and find that some joker has left something really weird inside? Seventh-grader Dorso Clayman opens his locker door to find a dead body. Thirty seconds later it disappears. It’s not the first bizarre thing that has appeared in his locker and then vanished. Something’s going on. Somebody has decided to make Dorso and his buddy Frank the target of some strange techno-practical jokes. The ultimate gamesters have hacked into the time line, and things from the past are appearing in the present. Soon, the jokes aren’t funny anymore—they’re dangerous. Dorso and Frank have got to beat the time hackers at their own game by breaking the code, before they get lost in the past themselves. From the Hardcover edition.

Ephraim Appledore-Smith is an ordinary boy, and up until his father's stroke he lived an ordinary life. But all that changes when his family moves to the Water Castle-their ancestral home in the small town of Crystal Springs. Mallory Green's family has always been the caretakers of the Water Castle-and the guardians of its secrets. She has been raised to protect the legendary Fountain of Youth, hidden on the estate grounds. But ever since her mom left, she's stopped believing in magic. Will Wylie's family has been at war with the Applegates for generations, all because of the Water Castle's powerful secrets. But Will has rejected legend and magic, putting all his faith in science. When Ephraim learns of the Fountain, he's sure finding it can cure his dad. With Mallory and Will's help, the trio embarks on a mission that brings them deep into their families' shared history, through every secret room in the Water Castle, and on a quest that will blur the lines of magic and science, creativity and discovery, leaving readers left to wonder: Do you believe in the unbelievable?

What sort of madman would unleash an army of stilt-walking, laser-beaming, thoroughly angry whales upon the world? Who cares! All that matters is that his dastardly plan be foiled. Lucky for Lily Gefelty, her two best friends are the intrepid stars of their own middle-grade series novels: Jasper Dash (better know as the Boy Technonaut) and Katie Mulligan (beloved by millions as the heroine of the Horror Hollow series). It's going to take all their smarts to stop this insane, inane plot from succeeding.

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It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger. "Wild nights are my glory," the unearthly stranger told them. "I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit down for a moment, and then I'll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract." A tesseract (in case the reader doesn't know) is a wrinkle in time. To tell more would rob the reader of the enjoyment of Miss L'Engle's unusual book.A Wrinkle in Time, winner of the Newbery Medal in 1963, is the story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe (athlete, student, and one of the most popular boys in high school). They are in search of Meg's father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government on the tesseract problem. A Wrinkle in Time is the winner of the 1963 Newbery Medal.

Planet Jurassica is under siege. The sinister space pirates have raided the Imperial palace and stolen the famous Jewels of Jurassica. This looks like a job for . . . Captain Raptor!. . . hero of a thousand space missions; champion of truth, justice, and dinosaurs in space throughout the galaxy. If anyone can track down those marauding space pirates, it's Captain Raptor and the fearless crew of the Megatooth!

When nine-year-old Bud accidentally catches the wrong bus and finds himself launched into a far-away galaxy, making friends is the least of his problems! At Cosmos Academy, Bud soon learns that Earthlings are the most feared creatures in the galaxy. But with the help of his new friend, Gort, Bud hides his true identity and even learns to play anti-gravity Zero-Ball (when he's only ever been good at watching sports). But with paranoid Principal Lepton threatening to expel any Earthlings, and nothing more than Gort's Blip-computer to determine Earth's coordinates, Bud may be lost in space forever! Both gripping and hilarious, this dynamic graphic novel is perfect for kids who crave adventure with a sense of humor.

This incredible, original story from a "New York Times"-bestselling author/illustrator captures all of the humor, awkwardness, fun, and frustrations of middle schoolNall told through one boy's comics, journal entries, letters, doodles, and newspaper clippings. Illustrations.

Ben Hatke brings back our intrepid space heroine for another delightful sci-fi/fantasy adventure. Zita is determined to find her way home to earth, following the events of the first book. But things are never simple, and certainly never easy, in space. Zita's exploits from her first adventure have made her an intergalactic megastar! But she's about to find out that fame doesn't come without a price. And who can you trust when your true self is being eclipsed by your public persona, and you've got a robot doppelganger wreaking havoc . . . while wearing your face? Still, if anyone can find their way through this intractible mess of mistaken identity and alien invaders, it's the indomitable Zita, in Legends of Zita the Spacegirl. Legends of Zita the Spacegirl is one of Kirkus Reviews' Best Children's Books of 2012.

Meet the Magic Pickle, a flying kosher dill secret weapon, created in a secret government lab under the floor of little JoJo Wigman's bedroom. The Magic Pickle is here to save the world from The Brotherhood of Evil Produce who are threatening to take over the world or at least kill us with fruit and vegetable puns!