Looking for recommendations - Kid/YA

[dreamshark]

One of my colleagues is looking for recommendations for books for her precocious 8-year-old daughter. My friend is Chinese, so she isn't familiar with classic American children's literature and would like some suggestions.  The little girl recently discovered "Wrinkle in Time" and couldn't put it down, and Liling is looking for more science fiction books that will keep her reading voraciously.  Any ideas?  

Comments

[sraun]

These might be more tempting to boy than a girl:

Alcatraz vs. ... series by Brandon Sanderson - my going-to-be-nine-in-six-weeks grand-son adored these last summer

The Eye, The Ear, and the Arm, by Nancy Farmer. Newberry Honor Book.
General Matsika's children steal out of the house on a forbidden adventure--and disappear. In Zimbabwe, in the year 2194, the children's parents call in Africa's most unusual detectives--the Ear, the Eye and the Arm--who have powers far beyond those of other human beings.