Space Opera Fans discussion

Looking for a great YA Space Opera story specifically written to appeal to today's young adult and/or middle grade readers? Never fear! We've got listopias!

Listopia #1 - Young Adult YA Space Opera - YA novels written since YA became a recognized category written specifically to appeal to modern, teenage (age 12-18) sensibilities. This isn't your father's Space Opera!

The Young Adult Listopia is HERE: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...


Listopia #2 - Best Middle Grade Sci-Fi Space Opera - Middle Grade aged Space Opera tales written to appeal to modern Middle School aged (8-13) sensibilities.

The Middle Grade Listopia is HERE: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...



YA/MG BOOKS FOR TEENS-OF-COLOR. This website is not maintained by Space Opera Fans, but it lists hard-to-find Young Adult science fiction and fantasy books about teens of color, including African, Middle Eastern, Latino and Hispanic, Native American, Asian and Pacific Islander, and mixed-race teens.

Find some diversity HERE: http://www.alienstarbooks.com/



YA/MG MASTERLIST OF MOVIES AND TELEVISION

The Last Starfighter (1984)
Treasure Planet (2002)


You guys are going to have to help me flesh these out. These are for stories written specifically for kids and teens dealing with kid/teen issues today, not older (dated) 'legacy' sci-fi written for an adult audience way-back-when, but due to a lack of smut is not objectionable for young people to read.

I have a small issue with the description at the top of the listopia. Mentioning female protagonists and romance right next to each other seems to make it look like it should be limited to books that are designed specifically to appeal to females, which seems a bit short-sighted.

Okay ... thanks for the feedback Shannon. Adjusted to 'include contemporary YA issues and concerns, relationships, and other story lines which appeal to YA sensibilities...'

Yes. We need some kick-butt, non-misogynistic YA space opera that will appeal to young men as well :-) My 12-year-old (girl) is currently addicted to the Percy Jackson series which slants more towards boys. Anybody know of any Space Opera equivalents?

Wow, I can't think of any. I have a vague idea that I hope will turn into one, but right now it's mostly setting and character notes, so it's a long way from seeing publication.

Just added a TV show and Movies list. Space Opera is bigger than any single media, and there is usually cross-pollination between all the sub-genres.

Baen has a list of YA titles:

http://www.baenebooks.com/c-7-young-a...

These are not just space opera, not even just sci-fi, and I disagree with some of their selections (I wouldn't consider Dark of the Moon suitable for YA, for example), but it might give you some other ideas.

Thanks Betsy! Right now I'm bogged down with ARISIA-prep, but once I get past mid-January I've got some projects I'd like to get off the ground, including tranferring over all these little sub-lists into their own gatekeeper-friendly lists.

I've heard from several teachers who were happy to find my lists. So ... they are helping people find sci-fi space opera books for kids. That makes me very happy. :-)

Here's another list that may be useful:

http://ideas.ted.com/2014/06/20/are-o...

I'm not sure any of these count as space opera, but it's good to know other people (TED type people) are recommending sci-fi for teen creativity.

Thanks Betsy! Though once again I am struck by how 'stale' many of these stories are (modern teens don't read them because they don't resonate with them). Not a lot of new stuff :-(

I've added this one to the listopia - Brave New Girls: Tales of Girls and Gadgets - the title says it all, really. It's a good collection of YA short stories, most of which can be described as space opera.

Shorts seem to be where it's at with the YA crowd these days, especially if they are reading on their iPhones :-)