Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Genre: Science-fiction (If you don’t “do” sci-fi, don’t be alarmed; there is no better entry book.)
Age recommendation: 13+
Summary: This is the story of a young boy Ender Wiggin. He is the third child in a society where families are only allowed two. His parents were given permission by the government because his older siblings had promising qualities. The government is in search for soldiers/commanders to help all humanity defeat an alien race called Buggers. Ender is taken into space to be trained and faces a harsh military world. You will be surprised by the ending. For a full summary, click here.
Why I love it: This book is a beautiful story about making choices. Card has a brilliant way of posing hard to ask moral questions and allowing the reader to truly think it through by way of the characters. Ender will steal your heart. Unlike many books written for a younger audience, this is not focused around romance or even a self-centered existence. I am also a lover of series, and Card produced 3 more book after Ender’s Game following his story, along with a spin-off series about another character, Bean. Although it is a series, this book stands on it’s own and is a great read!
The movie for this awesome sci-fi book comes out next week! I offer this book as extra credit reading to my freshmen students, and all who read it, love it. I highly recommend reading it!
Life in Toy Land 