Books

I was thinking of the same book. It's certainly appropriate for younger readers and should hold their interest.

Check murderbot 1 & 2 for language. Consider adding The Giver, 1984, Fahrenheit 451. They are classics for a reason.

I left them out of my comment, because I thought it might be too adult, but I think Christopher Paolini's Fractalverse is about the same level as Long Way, so I'm going to recommend that as well! Pretty standard scifi plot (though I haven't finished it yet, so maybe it gets shaken up in later books), but with some really interesting elements of transhumanism, like AR bio-implants, and giant genetically engineered brains for piloting FTL ships

I still think Ender’s Game is still a solid read for kids getting into Sci Fi, but the author in more modern times not so much.

Part of the goal is to freshen the list and he was on the old list, I just provided it as background as to what they were currently offering

Solar punk is great, I was thinking of the monk and robot books, but ultimately leaned away from it.

“ …just am not sure how much they would appeal to teens, I certainly would have liked them but I was very bookish.”

That’s part of the challenge too. It’s hard enough to get some of these kids to read a book, let alone a hard Sci Fi book that is now a required reading. It almost has to fool them into enjoying it first.

I think, while it's relatively clean as far as sex or violence goes, there's some problematic elements that speak to the author's "old fashionedness". For one, the author seems to think that being possessive of a romantic partner to the point of violence is a heroic trait. On multiple occasions otherwise sympathetic characters clench their teeth or their fists at or even attack other male characters that show interest in their female partners. There's also a conspicuous lack of queer characters. He does have a Bob finally identify as a "Bobby", but it takes hundreds of generations and they're used to illustrate just how much the iterations are drifting from the original, not to mention that they never actually show up in the books (yet). Every Bob is heterosexual. I don't recall any gay or queer characters ever being mentioned in any of the books.

There's also a suspicious undercurrent of genetic determinism. On multiple occasions characters are encountered with a very heavy implication that they are just born better and smarter and superior to their peers, and I find that kind of thought smells off to me. It reminds me too much of eugenics and people who believe in a master race or that certain classes are born to rule others.

They are fun reads and certainly enjoyable. As far as having teens read them, I would be concerned that they would absorb everything without being critical enough of the content. I think there are better, more inclusive choices that are more modern in their attitudes and cast of characters.