Science fiction books for children and teens
Children’s, young adult and teen science fiction books. Explore strange new worlds, incredible tech, the future, new life, awe, and wonder. This list contains 60+ titles, to inspire children and teens about other worlds, the universe, time travel, parallel universes, aliens, the unexplained and AI. There’s a range of picture books, short chapter books, middle grade and YA novels suitable for school libraries, independent reading and teaching in primary and secondary settings. This list features books by Karen Inglis, Christopher Edge, Madeleine L’Engle, Louis Sachar, Donna Barba Higuera, S. F. Said, Malorie Blackman, James Dashner, Douglas Adams, Soyoung Park, Ben Oliver and more.
Science fiction books for children and teens – our recommendations
Science fiction picture books and illustrated books
Beegu by Alexis Deacon. 
Journey by Aaron Becker. 
Supertato by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet. 
The Rock from the Sky by Jon Klassen. 
Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke. 
Little Badman by Humza Arshad and Henry White. Science fiction books for KS2
The Secret Lake by Karen Inglis. 
The Thirteenth Circle by MarcyKate Connolly and Kathryn Holmes. 
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. 
The Wild Robot by Peter Brown. 
Escape Room by Christopher Edge. 
SCRAP by Guy Bass. Future Friend by David Baddiel
Heroine Pip travels back in time to team up with tech prodigy Rahul and warn the world of climate change and viruses. This fast paced illustrated futuristic adventure with punchy dialogue and raucously funny moments is ideal to engage reluctant readers in years 5 and 6.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. 
A Year Without Autumn by Liz Kessler. 
Black Hole Cinema Club by Christopher Edge and David Dean. Space Oddity by Christopher Edge
At times laugh-out-loud and at times arrestingly thought-provoking, this mesmerizing story about Jake and his search for answers to big questions about life and our place in the universe will appeal to children with imaginations in upper KS2. An excellent choice for book groups.
The Shape of Time by Ryan Calejo. 
The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day by Christopher Edge. 
Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar. The Last Storyteller by Donna Barba Higuera
Petra awakes after hundreds of years to find herself on a distant planet, one of the few emigrant survivors from the long ago doomed planet Earth. She is also the only person to remember stories of their past world, and the only person who can tell them. A sweeping and epic vista of a novel that blends history, science, traditional Mexican tales and philosophy, this middle-grade novel is a tour de force for 9-12-year-olds. The thought-provoking premise will fire children’s imaginations and is a perfect starting point for book club discussions. And for English teachers, if you need a good example of a novel first-person narrated in the present tense, this is a compelling choice.
The Longest Night of Charlie Noon by Christopher Edge. 
Crater Lake by Jennifer Killick. 
Phoenix by S. F. Said. Science fiction books for KS3
The Secret Deep by Lindsay Galvin. 
Landscape with Invisible Hand by M. T. Anderson. 
TimeRiders by Alex Scarrow. The Undying of Obedience Wellrest by Nicholas Bowling
This fascinating combination of science and dark magic explores how both narratives can fill gaps of what we don’t know about the natural world. A unique, refreshing and memorable teen novel.
Chasing the Stars by Malorie Blackman. 
Where the Dark Stands Still by A. B. Poranek. 
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. 
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. 
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. 
Gamer by Chris Bradford. The Terracotta Horse by Scott Lauder and David Ross
Salma Mansour hopes she’ll never have to use her black belt taekwondo skills in real life, but that’s before she’s thrust into a time travel science fiction timeslip adventure. Part of the Three Hares series, The Terracotta Horse is a cracking middle-grade novel, with a fast-moving, rollercoaster action, dialogue-driven plot A heady mix of science fiction, ancient magic, and life or death period combat, spanning thousands of miles and thousands of years, this will appeal to history and science fiction readers in KS3.
The Giver by Lois Lowry. 
Game Over Memory Wars by M.J. Sullivan. 
The Maze Runner by James Dashner. The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
In a quiet English village, everyone falls asleep unexpectedly. When they wake up a day later, all the women are inexplicably pregnant. It soon becomes apparent that the children have abilities and powers that are not normal, threatening the community. Brilliantly written, this unsettling story is ideal to spark philosophical debate and discussion. Recently adapted into a TV series by Sky, The Midwich Cuckoos is a classic work of science fiction that has renewed relevance in an age of conformity, information wars and distrust in political leadership.
Science fiction books for KS4
Green Rising by Lauren James. 
Decimation by Marisa Cantrell-Rodriguez. 
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. 
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. 
Monstrous Devices by Damien Love. 
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken. 
The Great Science Fiction by H. G. Wells. 
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. 
Snowglobe by Soyoung Park. 
The Kill Factor by Ben Oliver. 
Swarm by Jennifer Lyle. 
Nubia: The Awakening by Omar Epps and Clarence A. Haynes. 
Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufmann and Jay Kristoff. 
Nemesis by Brendan Reichs. 
Scythe by Neal Shusterman. 
A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys. 
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. 
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. Click the buttons below to purchase all of the books in this science fiction book list, as well as class sets of any of these books and many more, from Bookshop.org UK. Or buy the 20 most popular titles from this list from Amazon – ideal for gifts or your classroom library.
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Science fiction resources for teachers
- The British Science Fiction Association supports science fiction in all its forms and promotes writing groups and awards. Members receive Focus and Speculative Art publications.
- Science Museum’s science fiction content hub contains free resources including videos, blogs, science articles, a science fiction trail, and upcoming events.
- British Film Institute’s science fiction resources for teachers resource include a list of top ten sci-fi films to watch with children – which include free lesson plans and a downloadable science fiction bingo game.
- This Education Week article explains why science fiction might be key to helping children understand AI, and offers insights into starting conversations and discussions about AI, using fiction to make an often complex subject more accessible and relatable.
- This piece from Edutopia explores how science fiction can be used in the classroom, especially in primary and early secondary education. There’s a useful set of criteria to use when picking sci-fi class novels and practical ideas for planning activities.
- This timeline from the BBC explores how science fiction has developed in literature and film. It’s a fascinating interactive resource that starts with Gulliver’s Travels in 1726, explores Frankenstein, Jules Verne, HG Wells, modern British science fiction and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
