[ChrisH]

Like many others I'll skip worthy reading that has already been mentioned like Enders Game...

But here's a few to add to the list:

Any of C S Lewis' fiction. Most of you are "between" the ages for the Narnia books (too old to enjoy fantasy for it's own sake, not old enough to see the deeper meanings behind the story). But his less well known Space Trilogy is better. The last book is the scariest, because I see so much of it now. For the English Majors out there, his Experiment in Criticism (non-fiction) should be required reading. It was when my wife was an English major, for good reason.

For mysteries, you can't beat Dorothy Sayers (a friend and contemporary of Tolkien and Lewis).

Lately I've been working through the Brother Cadfel books by Ellis Peters. I guess you could say I've been regressing.

Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is good. See if you can figure out the historical parallel (it's not that hard). I was surprised he didn't get more mention, but some of his better work probably shouldn't be in high school libraries. (Do you Grok?)

I liked David Brin's "the Postman" which was much better as a book than as a movie. Not that I bothered to SEE the movie, the butchered synopsis was enough for me. Certainly some interesting ideas there.

Frank Herbert's Dune books haven't come up yet. There are a couple of others that are floating around my brain and I can't remember quite. One was written by one of my physics profs, but I can't seem to remember his name at the moment either...

I almost forgot Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged which took me three tries to get through. That was OK, I wouldn't have understood the first couple of tries anyway. Also Anthem which touches on the same themes but is a much shorter book.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the father of science fiction, Jules Verne, yet. Sometimes he is a little tedious but that was the style back then.