Yes I grew up reading Andre Norton and had no idea "he" was a she. Certain of her SF books were very formative to me as a teenager. The Dane Thorson books, the two Janus books (Judgement On Janus and Victory On Janus) spring to mind. Very much YA reads, although the term wasn't known then. Also of course, a diet heavy in Asimov, Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke. Then at 15 I discovered Jack Vance who just blew everything else I had read out of the water.