Rusted Sky

That was the first Heinlein book I ever read, from my junior high school library. Hope he enjoys Kip, Peewee and the Mother Thing as much as I did!

MY first was The Stars My Destination when I wasn't much older than Aaron. However, I devoured all of the Heinlein Juveniles and Asomov's "Lucky Starr" bookswhen I got the "Adult" library card. All of the SF was in the adult fiction section of the Enterprise, AL public Library

Don't forget the Andre Norton juveniles.

My first science fiction book was her "Star Rangers" or as it was called back in the early '50s "The Last Planet". May be a little high on the Psi for the little guy but I loved it and it opened the whole genre for me.

Almost all of her post apocalyptic juveniles hold up real well even after almost 50 years. Example "Daybreak 2250" which has been retitled "Star Man's Son".

Also recommended are her Beast Master series, nothing like the crappy TV show, and her loosely connected Time Trader and Sioux Spaceman series. All good reads.

When he gets a little older don't forget Baen's free library. Most of them are probably too adult for him now but there's over a hundred books there and all for free.

otpu