Since you said she’s interested in fantasy, I’d suggest the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede (Dealing with Dragons is book one.) Unfortunately it’s not on the Kindle yet, but it does a good job of pointing out common fantasy tropes in an entertaining way. Also, the main female character is a very good role model.
If you want more of a scientific mindset applied to fantasy, I’d say The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards instills scientific curiosity very well. Also not available on Kindle...
Finally, (this time actually on the Kindle!) if you want to gently introduce her to sci-fi while still maintaining fantasy, Diane Duane’s Young Wizard series is… decent. Might be a bit scary at parts, though. I don’t recommend this as highly as the other two, though. It doesn’t necessarily teach anything rationality (although it’s been a while since I read it), it’s just a good bridge into science fiction.
EDIT: I just thought of a great introduction to non-fiction reading. An Incomplete Education: 3,684 Things You Should Have Learned but Probably Didn’t by Judy Jones. It’s a general overview of a lot of topics ranging from history to philosophy to science, all in a humorous style. This was one of the books that kickstarted my love of learning when I was thirteen-ish.
I’d second the Young Wizards as an awesome read, although I wouldn’t really call it sci-fi (or rational). More like fantasy with a thin jargon veneer. It’s got strong protagonists of both genders and a very positive tone overall (I’m reminded of MoR!Harry saying ‘If Light winning is a problem, let the Light win again’)
Well there was that one book in the middle of the series which is basically pro-death (ends with one of the characters choosing not to be completely cured because then their whole life would become about not dying rather than appreciating the time they had), but I would still say that the overall message is highly anti-death
The Wizard’s oath was specifically about fighting entropy, and that’s problematic because living things depend on entropy. Fighting entropy isn’t the same as fighting death.
II just looked up the wording of the oath, and entropy doesn’t actually enter into it (it also does say “I will put aside fear for courage, and death for life.”) It’s true that the characters often talk about fighting entropy, but it doesn’t seem like it’s ever been an accurate description of what they do.
Since you said she’s interested in fantasy, I’d suggest the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede (Dealing with Dragons is book one.) Unfortunately it’s not on the Kindle yet, but it does a good job of pointing out common fantasy tropes in an entertaining way. Also, the main female character is a very good role model.
If you want more of a scientific mindset applied to fantasy, I’d say The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards instills scientific curiosity very well. Also not available on Kindle...
Finally, (this time actually on the Kindle!) if you want to gently introduce her to sci-fi while still maintaining fantasy, Diane Duane’s Young Wizard series is… decent. Might be a bit scary at parts, though. I don’t recommend this as highly as the other two, though. It doesn’t necessarily teach anything rationality (although it’s been a while since I read it), it’s just a good bridge into science fiction.
EDIT: I just thought of a great introduction to non-fiction reading. An Incomplete Education: 3,684 Things You Should Have Learned but Probably Didn’t by Judy Jones. It’s a general overview of a lot of topics ranging from history to philosophy to science, all in a humorous style. This was one of the books that kickstarted my love of learning when I was thirteen-ish.
I’d second the Young Wizards as an awesome read, although I wouldn’t really call it sci-fi (or rational). More like fantasy with a thin jargon veneer. It’s got strong protagonists of both genders and a very positive tone overall (I’m reminded of MoR!Harry saying ‘If Light winning is a problem, let the Light win again’)
IIRC, Duane eventually put something in to the effect that fighting entropy is an over-simplified goal, but I don’t remember which book that was in.
Well there was that one book in the middle of the series which is basically pro-death (ends with one of the characters choosing not to be completely cured because then their whole life would become about not dying rather than appreciating the time they had), but I would still say that the overall message is highly anti-death
The Wizard’s oath was specifically about fighting entropy, and that’s problematic because living things depend on entropy. Fighting entropy isn’t the same as fighting death.
II just looked up the wording of the oath, and entropy doesn’t actually enter into it (it also does say “I will put aside fear for courage, and death for life.”) It’s true that the characters often talk about fighting entropy, but it doesn’t seem like it’s ever been an accurate description of what they do.