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Does anyone have any suggestions for books for a young teen who likes (modern/urban/bit of classic) fantasy (Lord of the Rings movies — books were too verbose and old timey, Fairy Tale by Stephen King), science fiction and/or same with some fantasy mixed in (Star Wars, bit of Star Trek, lighter Dr. Who, will almost certainly enjoy @scalzi books soon) real science (Hidden Figures, chemistry demonstrations on videos are big right now), superheroes (Marvel movies are big), with moving (but not sad) and/or funny aspects being wide open, and a dash of coming of age stories be they LGBTQ or otherwise (Heartstopper)?
Not all in one book, I can’t imagine — that would be one hell of a winding tale — but anything with an element or two or three of those things included would be great.
Looking for a present for this year’s Jolabokaflod — https://www.reayjespersen.com/blog-1/2021/12/24/happy-jolabokaflod/ — and normally we’ve had some solid ideas for books or series that the kiddo wants, but tastes are changing plus the teenagerism angle is making the options more obscure and I have zero doubt there’s plenty out there none of us have heard about or would know to hunt down.
Thanks!
@scalzi Thanks for all the feedback, folks! I’m sure we can find something among all those suggestions to fit the bill.
Hope I was able to Like every one of them. If not, sorry, just lost among the replies, but sincerely appreciated.
@scalzi @welshpixie
Lian Hearn's Tales of the Otori trilogy, across the nightingale floor.
@reay I would recommend Charlie Jane Anders "Unstoppable" trilogy, starting with "Victories Greater Than Death"
@reay @scalzi you know actually you can probably get all of these in one book if you read a Discworld book.
i'm gonna recommend Monstrous Regiment. it's got a SIGNIFICANT number of these. the Tiffany Aching series (The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith, I Shall Wear Midnight, The Shepherd's Crown) would also fit these really well, but that's a series of books and a very gradual coming of age
@reay I think I can recommend Ascendance of a Bookworm, by Miya Kazuki. It's a light novel in 30+ volumes though 
It's a story about a Japanese teenager whose whole existence revolves around her books and everything else she reads ; she gets reincarnated in a medieval fantasy world where books are an impossibly high luxury, completely unaffordable for her new undercity family. Suffices to say it's an immense shock to her, so great that she decides to do everything to bring printing and affordable books in this new world of her.
@reay The real twist however is that she got reincarnated in the body of an incredibly frail 5 years old, and is constantly on the verge of dying from a mysterious brutal fever. So much so that she collapses after almost any action, like sweeping the floor or coming down the stairs. Suffices to say making books in this conditions will prove challenging.
A story in 30+ volumes, in which we get top notch world building in this status based society, imbued with magic and very interesting characters (several supposedly ND, and a few LGBT+).
@reay The story is told at the 1st person 98% if the time, and to say the protagonist goes through a lot would be a phenomenal understatement. She's also a gremlin 
I would say the narration is a bit weak especially at the beginning, but the writing is nothing short of excellent. The narration "issue" makes it kinda not for everyone, but those who can do with it tend to like it fondly. The story takes full advantage of its great length and fleshes out everything, making it a very palpable and fascinating story in a fascinating world 
@NullNoMore @reay Me neither 
Still in the early thirties, and it's one of my favorite fiction
@reay Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld may hit several of those notes.
Dreadnought by April Daniels and C.B. Lee's Sidekick Squad series
I don't typically recommend my own work, but I think it would hit the right notes for your teen. Sci Fi & fantasy novels with strongvfound family themes. My space opera series is queer friendly.
My pinned post: https://zirk.us/@LJ/113380004030304798
My writing website: http://ljcohen.net
@reay Real science: any of the Cartoon Guides on science subjects by Larry Gonick and company? https://www.larrygonick.com
Lately I have enjoyed Riley Black's Last Days of the Dinosaurs and Bethany Brookshire's Pests.
https://rileyblack.net/books
https://bethanybrookshire.com/pests/
Also Greg Gbur's Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics.
Memoir/coming of age: Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe? https://redgoldsparkspress.com/projects/6926504
@reay The mention of Hidden Figures suggested Chanda Prescod-Weinstein's The Disordered Cosmos
@reay The Nameless City trilogy by Erin Faith Hicks. Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher, maybe Nettle & Bone or A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking to start (both pretty straight fantasy. A lot of her work shades into horror and/or romance--still gets an enthusiastic rec from me, but for horror especially everyone has different squick lines).
