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What YA' Reading: Teens In Space

YA Sci Fi space books seem to be having their time in the spotlight lately. Authors are unleashing their creativity and diving into the worlds of space odysseys and dystopia alike. As an avid lover of both, I'm sharing a few of my favorites.

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

For Darkness Shows the Stars

Technology has been outlawed for decades thanks to a genetic experiment gone wrong. Four years ago Elliot said no when her closest childhood friend, Kai, asked her to flee her family estate with him. Now Elliot's running her father's estate and protecting the workers from her father's disdain and inattention. Her resolve to do right by the workers leads to Elliot planting specially bred crops, something no true Luddite should do.

Salvation arrives when an admiral requests the use of the family boathouse to build a ship for his fleet. Seeing the rental income as a lifeline, Elliot agrees wholeheatedly agrees. However, she doesn't realize what and who she has just agreed to.

For Darkness Shows the Stars is technically a retelling of Persuasion by Jane Austen. However, you don't need to know anything about that book to enjoy this one. The world building and futuristic setting are amazing and the struggles Elliot goes through are entirely relatable. This is easily one of the best YA Sci Fi reads for dystopia lovers.

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Maegan Spooner

These Broken Stars

This is one of my favorite books of all time! Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver is a war hero who came from nothing. They both also just so happen to be on the same spaceliner when it crashes into the nearest plant. Now Lilac and Tarver need one another to traverse the strange and deserted planet to find help.

This book is incredible, as are the subsequent titles in the series. Lilac seems like she could be a spoiled brat but she isn't. Tarver is everything you would expect out of a hero – tough and hardworking with a good moral compass. Seeing their relationship evolve is one of the highlights of this book. The authors also create an incredible world with a refreshingly original story line.

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

AURORA RISINGIt seems like Amie Kaufman is cornering the market on stellar YA space novels.

It's the year 2380 and a new graduating class of Aurora Academy recruits is assigned to their first mission for the Aurora Legion. After failing to return to the Draft in time, Tyler's new crew is full of misfits and losers and it's all his fault. His oddball crew isn't even the worst of his problems. Enter Auri, a girl who was stuck in cry-freeze for the last 200 years, has crazy new powers and may start a war no one is ready to fight.

The characters in Aurora Rising are #squadgoals personified. You've got a golden boy, a sarcastic diplomat, a scientist who tends to shoot her bunkmates, a tech genius with a smart mouth, an angry alien warrior, and a tomboy pilot. By the end of the book you will find yourself rooting for each and every one of them.

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