Despite their scarcity, science fiction books are highly sought after by elementary school students.

I got interested in SF because the librarian in my elementary was a SF lover. There were racks of paperbacks that I gobbled up and it’s stuck with me for decades since. It makes me sad to think that kids don’t have the same chance I did to get interested at an early age in the most imaginative genre of fiction. We all need to do our part to pass it on.

What are your suggestions for getting young people interested in science fiction?

A few I remember from that time:

Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom series

Heinlein’s juveniles like Podkayne of Mars and Have Spacesuit, Will Travel

McCaffery’s Dragonriders of Pern

Niven’s Known Space books

  • @RightHandOfIkarosEnglish
    60•9 months ago

    I would not say scifi books help people better understand science. Rather, it cultivates an interest in science.

    • Flying Squid
      19•9 months ago

      Asimov wrote some of his sci-fi specifically to explain scientific concepts and he’s not the only one.

    • lemmyvoreEnglish
      17•9 months ago

      I guess it depends on the book? There are many sci-fi books that explore the practical aspects and the science to at least some extent.

      It doesn’t necessarily have to be hard science, if it involves critical thinking and it introduces people to certain fields it can be good enough.

    • @[email protected]English
      8•9 months ago

      Also, it might make some concepts from science more familiar because you read this in a book. It might be part of a technobabble, but I can imagine the reality of it being more approachable if you had some contact with it.