Wait, how is Mad Max for juveniles? Wasn't there killing and death in that movie?

I think it's an essential transition point in a young nerds development.

Plus, some juvenile fiction can be a nice quick read to cleanse the literary palette.

Asimov wrote tons of it, so did Clarke.

Heinlein wrote "juvie" fiction.

@Seth L:
Asimov's was pretty good (ie: Lucky Starr.) Good times.

How about A Wrinkle in Time? or A Swiftly Tilting Planet? Those were pretty dystopian.

How does Madeleine L'Engle not get mentioned at any point in any of the three stories (including this one)?

That's like writing about Joseph Campbell's influence on SF and not mentioning Star Wars.

Or like discussing Catholics and not mentioning the Pope.

Or.....Whatever, I wrote off the whole discussion at that point.

@ManchuCandidate: Unfortunately a lot of the Lucky Starr books don't translate given that when they were written, so little was known about the planets.

@NefariousNewt:
True. About the only thing they got right was Mars. I don't think anyone would want to swim in a Venusian ocean of boiling lead.

@ManchuCandidate: Yah, but Heinlein sucked. That's why his stuff's Juvie. When you try to read it as an adult, it's an exercise in eye-rolling.

Neil Gaiman also has a pretty good response on his blog ([journal.neilgaiman.com]), which paired with Glenn's article paints David Itzkoff in a pretty shabby light.

Not usually SF, but Diana Wynne Jones is seriously awesome and should be mentioned in any list of the best YA fiction.

I love the Tripod series. Still think it's damn creepy stuff. And I want to read City of Ember, which is another YA novel that I think probably translates well to an adult context.

@Annalee: I reread the Tripods just last year, and it was just as good as I remembered.

Thanks for the post, Annalee -- and thanks, io9 readers, for the comments. You already know how much I like the Tripod series -- and almost everything else that Christopher (a pen name) wrote for young adults. The City of Ember books are OK, I've read them and passed them along to my 10-year-old. I think they're derivative, and not particularly well written, but the same argument could be made (wrongly!) about the books on my list.

As for "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome," it certainly isn't rated G. But have you watched it? Compared it with the first two "Mad Max" movies? It's a kiddie version of "Road Warrior," complete with... kiddies.

I wouldn't be the nerd I am today without the encouragement of Garth Nix.

@ManchuCandidate: I cut my teeth on Lucky Star, Norby, and Robot City. I can pinpoint those books as my love for science fiction.

Dave Itzkoff gives me hives.

Personally, I blame A.M. Lightner for for making me the SciFi riddle nerd that I am today. one of the earliest books i can remember reading was the "Space Ark" followed closely by the "Space Olympics".

I dispute that Itzkoff's column is a great read. He's shallow, and he's being catty for the sake of being catty.

That style and tone might fly when he was writing for boobie centric men's magazines, but for every other genre, the NY Times seems to have a higher standard. Except F/SF. Odd that. Almost as if they wanted to see bad reviews for books in the genre, and picked someone who'd slag it as much as possible.

Seems pretty wrong-headed to me. Critical darling Chabon wrote Summerland, and they didn't take away his Pulitzer or anything.

But I guess somebody should tell Jo Rowling she's slumming.

Savage Survival, White Odyssey (Eppie Award), Space Trails and Mindwar(Eppie Award), all young adult science fiction by Darrell Bain

@ WILLENTREKIN -

If you think Summerland is pushing it, try Gentlemen Of The Road. It's a Robert E. Howard homage, only with Jewish protagonists. Also by Chabon.