Texas State Reading Lists
Award Lists
Tayshas High School Reading List
Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List
2023 Topaz Nonfiction Reading List Selection
Action!
How Movies Began
A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of the Year In this “stunning” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) picture book, award-winning nonfiction creator M...
Alice Waters Cooks Up a Food Revolution
From the team behind the acclaimed Ada Lovelace, Poet of Science comes a delicious and “lively” (Booklist, starred review) nonfiction picture book ...
Conspiracy
Nixon, Watergate, and Democracy's Defenders
The story of President Richard Nixon and those who fought against him comes to life in this insightful and accessible nonfiction middle grade book ...
A Dinosaur Named Ruth
How Ruth Mason Discovered Fossils in Her Own Backyard
For fans of Shark Lady and from the New York Times bestselling illustrator of Dr. Fauci comes the incredible true story of a girl who discovered di...
Happy Sloth Day!
Take a stunning sloth’s-eye view of the world in this beautiful and informative photographic nonfiction picture book from award-winning author and ...
The Message
The Extraordinary Journey of an Ordinary Text Message
Follow as a text message travels at near light speed around the world in this illuminating picture book about how our messages get from one phone t...
The Only Woman in the Photo
Frances Perkins & Her New Deal for America
Discover the incredible life of Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet and the mastermind behind Franklin D. Roosevelt...
2022 Topaz Nonfiction Reading List Selection
The Great Stink
How Joseph Bazalgette Solved London's Poop Pollution Problem
A Robert F. Sibert Honor Book! Discover the true story about the determined engineer who fixed London’s pollution problem in this funny, accessible...
King of Ragtime
The Story of Scott Joplin
A stunning, rhythmic picture book biography of African American composer Scott Joplin, whose ragtime music paved the way for jazz.There was somethi...
Crossings
Extraordinary Structures for Extraordinary Animals
This powerful nonfiction picture book explores wildlife crossings around the world and how they are helping save thousands of animals every day.Aro...
Just You and Me
Remarkable Relationships in the Wild
Celebrate perfect partnerships in nature with this fascinating rhyming picture book exploring symbiosis with vibrant illustrations and fun facts th...
Keeping the City Going
Caldecott Award winner Brian Floca gives a heartfelt thank you to the essential workers who keep their cities going during COVID-19 quarantine in t...
A Day in the Life of a Poo, a Gnu, and You
Packed with comics, diagrams, and “secret diaries,” this book is a wondrous, encyclopedic glance at a dizzying host of different things—from hearts...
She Came to Slay
The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman
In the bestselling tradition of The Notorious RBG comes a lively, informative, and illustrated tribute to one of the most exceptional women in Amer...
2021 Topaz Nonfiction Reading List Selection
Mobituaries
Great Lives Worth Reliving
From beloved CBS Sunday Morning correspondent and humorist Mo Rocca, an entertaining and rigorously researched book that celebrates the dead people...
Dancing Hands
How Teresa Carreño Played the Piano for President Lincoln
Winner of the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book In soaring words and stunning illustrations, Margarita Engle and Raf...
RESPECT
Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustration Award! From a New York Times bestselling author and an acclaimed illustrator comes this vibrant portr...
2023 Texas 2X2 Reading List Selection
Mina
Five starred reviews! Named Best Picture Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews and Shelf Awareness “Marvelous mouse-sized mischief for all ages.” —Boo...
2022 Texas 2X2 Reading List Selection
Have You Seen Gordon?
A Time Best Children’s Book of 2021! Packed with vibrant and dizzying artwork, this hilarious story cleverly riffs on classic seek-and-find books a...
You Matter
A New York Times bestseller! Five starred reviews! Named Best Book of the Year by Barnes & Noble, The New York Times/New York Public Library, P...
2021 Texas 2X2 Reading List Selection
You Matter
A New York Times bestseller! Five starred reviews! Named Best Book of the Year by Barnes & Noble, The New York Times/New York Public Library, P...
2020 Texas 2X2 Reading List Selection
Cake
In the tradition of I Want My Hat Back, this delicious story from Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet tells the story of a cake who’s about to attend his ve...
Cyril and Pat
From author-illustrator Emily Gravett comes a warm and funny picture book about friendship and loving someone different from yourself.Cyril is a sq...
Another
An NPR Favorite Book of 2019 A New York Times Best Children’s Book of 2019 An NYPL Best Book of 2019 A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2019 A School...
Seeds Move!
Discover the fascinating and surprising ways that seeds move and find a place to grow in this gorgeous picture book from Caldecott Honoree Robin Pa...
Truman
An NPR Favorite Book of 2019 A New York Times Best Children’s book of 2019 A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of 2019 A School Library Journal Best...
2023 Tayshas High School Reading List Selection
After the Ink Dries
Courtney Summers meets Deb Caletti in this “all too believable” (Publishers Weekly) page-turning suspense story about a teen girl—reeling in the wa...
Ain't Burned All the Bright
A Caldecott Honor winner! Prepare yourself for something unlike anything: A smash-up of art and text for teens that viscerally captures what it is ...
Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World
A #1 New York Times bestseller Four starred reviews! “Messily human and sincerely insightful.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) The highly anticipa...
Better Than the Movies
A USA TODAY and New York Times bestseller Perfect for fans of Kasie West and Jenn Bennett, this “sweet and funny” (Kerry Winfrey, author of Waiting...
The Cost of Knowing
Four starred reviews! Dear Martin meets They Both Die at the End in this gripping, evocative novel about a Black teen who has the power to see into...
Vampires, Hearts & Other Dead Things
An ALA Morris Award Finalist! In this “equal parts heartbreaking and joyful” (School Library Journal) debut YA novel that’s The Coldest Girl in Co...
Vespertine
An international bestseller! From the New York Times bestselling author of Sorcery of Thorns and An Enchantment of Ravens comes a thrilling, “dark ...
2022 Tayshas High School Reading List Selection
The Black Kids
A New York Times bestseller A William C. Morris Award Finalist “Should be required reading in every classroom.” —Nic Stone, #1 New York Times bests...
A Complicated Love Story Set in Space
“A riveting ride through the stars.” —Kirkus Reviews Black Mirror meets What If It’s Us in this gripping, romantic, and wildly surprising novel abo...
A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow
A Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club YA Pick “A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow is an absolute delight. Cozier than a hand-knit gr...
Legendborn
An Instant New York Times Bestseller! Winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award Filled with mystery and an intrig...
A Pho Love Story
“Will leave readers swooning.” —PopSugar When Dimple Met Rishi meets Ugly Delicious in this funny, smart romantic comedy, in which two Vietnamese ...
Prepped
For fans of Jeff Zentner and Katie Henry comes a thrilling and funny debut about a teen raised in a doomsday community who plots her escape with th...
Shine
An instant New York Times bestseller! Crazy Rich Asians meets Gossip Girl by way of Jenny Han in this knock-out debut about a Korean American teen ...
These Violent Delights
An Instant New York Times Bestseller! A BuzzFeed Best Young Adult Book of 2020 Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Serpent & Dove, this h...
2021 Tayshas High School Reading List Selection
Love from A to Z
A Today Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick A School Library Journal Best Young Adult Book of 2019 A YALSA 2020 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adul...
Winterwood
From New York Times bestselling author of The Wicked Deep comes a haunting romance perfect for fans of Practical Magic, where dark fairy tales and ...
The Degenerates
“Respectful, unflinching, and eye-opening.” —Kirkus Reviews “Historical fiction that not only depicts a cruel, horrifying reality but also the stre...
Barely Missing Everything
“There are moments when a story shakes you...Barely Missing Everything is one of those stories, and Mendez, a gifted storyteller with a distinct vo...
Of Curses and Kisses
“Fans of Menon’s frothy, contemporary rom-coms will be excited for this venture into new territory.” —Booklist “[A] dreamy, sassy confection of a r...
SLAY
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2019! “Gripping and timely.” —People “The YA debut we’re most excited for this year.” —Entertainment Weekly “A boo...
2023 Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List
Tiny Dancer
A teenage ballet dancer struggles to find her next step, and her place in the world, in this exquisite graphic memoir—a follow-up to the Sibert Hon...
2022 Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List
The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor
Nimona meets Paper Girls with a literary twist in this wickedly funny graphic novel about a teenager who is swept up in a strange new universe and ...
Long Distance
From the creator of Fake Blood comes another exceptionally charming middle grade graphic novel about friendships both near and far, far away.Vega’s...
The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor
Nimona meets Paper Girls with a literary twist in this wickedly funny graphic novel about a teenager who is swept up in a strange new universe and ...
2021 Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List
Becoming RBG
Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Journey to Justice
From the New York Times bestselling author of I Dissent comes a biographical graphic novel about celebrated Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsbu...
Long Way Down
The Graphic Novel
A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) Jason Reynolds’s Newbery Honor, Printz Honor, and Coretta Scott King Honor–winning, #1 New York Times bestse...
2023 Lone Star Reading List Selection
The Clackity
Reminiscent of Doll Bones and Small Spaces, this “delightfully eerie” (Erin A. Craig, New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrow...
Rules for Vampires
The Nevermoor series meets Hotel Transylvania in this “delightful and spooky” (Booklist) debut middle grade adventure set in a world of talking spi...
Skandar and the Unicorn Thief
Soar into a breathtaking world of heroes and unicorns as you’ve never seen them before in this fantastical middle grade debut perfect for fans of t...
2022 Lone Star Reading List Selection
Alone
Perfect for fans of Hatchet and the I Survived series, this harrowing middle grade debut novel-in-verse from a Pushcart Prize–nominated poet tells ...
The Memory Thief
“This expertly crafted story thrums with magic, love, and tense action.” —Booklist (starred review) Perfect for fans of The Girl Who Drank the Moon...
Ten Thousand Tries
A middle school soccer whiz’s determination to keep things from changing is tested when his father’s ALS symptoms worsen in this “heart-tugging and...
When the World Was Ours
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Emily Windsnap series, Liz Kessler, comes a “brutally honest and totally believable” (Booklist, s...
2021 Lone Star Reading List Selection
City Spies
A New York Times bestseller! A GMA3 Summer Reading Squad Selection! “Ingeniously plotted, and a grin-inducing delight.” —People “Will keep young re...
2023 Little Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List
Bunnicula
The Graphic Novel
“Bunnicula rules!” —Dav Pilkey, creator of the Captain Underpants series Celebrate over forty years of the modern classic Bunnicula with this fang-...
Cranky Chicken
A Cranky Chicken Book 1
Narwhal and Jelly meet The Bad Guys in this brightly illustrated, downright hilarious chapter book graphic novel full of “sweet, wholesome fun” (BC...
Isla to Island
This stunning wordless graphic novel follows a young girl in the 1960s who immigrates from Cuba to the United States and must redefine what home me...
Lumberjackula
For fans of The Okay Witch and Fake Blood, this hilarious middle grade graphic novel follows a half-vampire, half-lumberjack boy who feels torn bet...
Tiny Dancer
A teenage ballet dancer struggles to find her next step, and her place in the world, in this exquisite graphic memoir—a follow-up to the Sibert Hon...
2022 Little Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List
Missed Meal Mayhem
A group of silly superheroes—a bean, a chip, a tomato, and a wedge of cheddar cheese—come to the rescue of a hungry kid stuck at school in this fir...
2021 Little Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List
Becoming RBG
Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Journey to Justice
From the New York Times bestselling author of I Dissent comes a biographical graphic novel about celebrated Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsbu...
Beetle & the Hollowbones
A Stonewall Honor Book An enchanting, riotous, and playfully illustrated debut graphic novel following a young goblin trying to save her best frien...
2023 - 2024 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List Selection
Once Upon a Tim
Join New York Times bestselling author Stuart Gibbs in this first book in a hilarious, highly illustrated new middle grade series about a peasant b...
The Polter-Ghost Problem
Three best friends discover a haunted orphanage and get swept up in ghoulish shenanigans in this “laugh-out-loud, high-action read” (Kirkus Reviews...
2022 - 2023 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List Selection
Rock by Rock
The Fantastical Garden of Nek Chand
This luminous picture book tells the fascinating true story of artist Nek Chand and how his secret art project—hidden away in a jungle—became one o...
Once Upon a Camel
“A delight to the senses.” —Kirkus Reviews Perfect for fans of The One and Only Ivan, this exquisite middle grade novel from Newbery Honoree and Na...
Nightingale
“A solid if unexpected blend of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and the story of the birth of labor unions…Radium Girls-esque.” —BCCB A plucky ...
2020 - 2021 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List Selection
The Rhino in Right Field
“Laugh-out-loud fun…A winner in every way.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Funny and good-hearted.” —Publishers Weekly A boy who loves baseball ...
2023 - 2024 Tejas Star Reading List Selection
Cultivando a un artista (Growing an Artist)
La historia de un jardinero paisajista y su hijo
El galardonado artista John Parra nos trae un conmovedor y engañosamente simple cuento infantil ilustrado inspirado por su propia niñez, sobre el l...
2022 - 2023 Tejas Star Reading List Selection
Cuando los ángeles cantan (When Angels Sing)
La historia de la leyenda de rock Carlos Santana
Mención de honor del premio Pura Belpré de ilustración Mención de honor del premio Robert F. SilverCarlos Santana echaba de menos a su papá cuando ...
La joven aviadora (The Flying Girl)
Aída de Acosta sube muy alto
Una edición española¡Si ese hombre puede volar, yo también puedo! En una animada calle en la encantadora ciudad de París, una joven llamada Aída mi...
Manos que bailan (Dancing Hands)
Cómo Teresa Carreño tocó el piano para el presidente Lincoln
Ganador del premio Pura Belpré de ilustraciónDe niña, a Teresa Carreño le encantaba dejar que sus manos bailaran a lo largo de las hermosas teclas ...
Pokko y el tambor (Pokko and the Drum)
El artista Matthew Forsythe, premio de honor del E.B. White Read Aloud, entrega un libro sobre un tambor mágico, un bosque esmeralda y una ranita q...
Un pregón de frutas (Song of Frutas)
Una edición españolaCuando visitamos a abuelo, lo ayudo a vender frutas, pregonando los nombres de cada una mientras caminamos: nuestros pasos repi...
¿Qué haces con una voz así? (What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?)
La historia de la extraordinaria congresista Barbara Jordan
¡Ahora disponible en edición español! La congresista Bárbara Jordan tenía una voz grande, potente, y segura – ¡y sabía como usarlo! Aprenda sobre s...
2021 - 2022 Tejas Star Reading List Selection
Oye, Muro (Hey, Wall)
Un cuento de arte y comunidad
Un niño crea un proyecto de arte comunitario para embellecer su vecindario en este bello e inspirador libro de Susan Verde que ha sido hermosamente...
La travesía de Santiago (Santiago's Road Home)
Cuando cruzaba la frontera de México con Estados Unidos un muchacho se detiene por ICE en esta novela actual e impávida escrita por la autora galar...
2022 - 2023 Horned Toad Tales List
The Great Pet Heist
Ocean’s Eleven meets The Secret Life of Pets in this hilarious and delightfully illustrated novel following a ragtag group of pets who will do what...
The Islanders
An instant New York Times bestseller! “Storytelling for young readers at its finest—equal parts summer adventure and environmental suspense…[a] lo...
2021 - 2022 Horned Toad Tales List
The Amelia Six
“A cozy whodunit that cheerfully affirms girls’ and women’s contributions to aerospace.” —Kirkus Reviews “Comparisons with Nancy Drew and Sammy Key...
2022 - 2023 Crown Award Nominee
Fred's Big Feelings
The Life and Legacy of Mister Rogers
An inspiring picture book biography about the inimitable Fred Rogers, beloved creator and star of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.Fred Rogers was a qui...
Muffled
A young girl learns how to cope with her noise sensitivity and step outside of her comfort zone in this heartwarming middle grade novel that’s perf...
The Amelia Six
“A cozy whodunit that cheerfully affirms girls’ and women’s contributions to aerospace.” —Kirkus Reviews “Comparisons with Nancy Drew and Sammy Key...
2021 - 2022 Triple Crown Gallery Award Nominee
Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao
A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of 2019 Meet the funny, fierce, and fearless Amy Wu, who is determined to make a perfect bao bun today. Can she ...
By and By
Charles Albert Tindley, the Father of Gospel Music
A stirring picture book biography from award-winning duo Carole Boston Weatherford and Bryan Collier, about gospel composer and preacher Charles Al...
Harlem Grown
How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood
As featured on Humans of New York “Hartland’s joyful folk-art illustrations bop from the gray-toned jazzy vibrancy of a bustling city neighborhood ...
Parker Looks Up
An Extraordinary Moment
A New York Times bestseller! A visit to Washington, DC’s National Portrait Gallery forever alters Parker Curry’s young life when she views First La...
2021 - 2022 Lectio Book Award Finalist
Me and Sam-Sam Handle the Apocalypse
“Edgar-winning Vaught, a neuropsychologist, has both personal and professional experience to draw on in crafting a narrator who is admirably smart ...
2020 - 2021 Lectio Book Award Finalist
Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation
“Fast-paced, smart, and action-packed...a real page-burner.” —Chris Grabenstein, #1 New York Times bestelling author of the Mr. Lemoncello’s Librar...
The Good Thieves
“A dazzling tale of wild hope, lingering grief, admirable self-sufficiency, and intergenerational adoration.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “...
2021 - 2022 Lamplighter Award Nominee
Blue Skies
For fans of Kate DiCamillo’s Louisiana’s Way Home, this heartwarming novel tells the story of ten-year-old Glory Bea as she prepares for a miracle ...
The Turnover
From New York Times bestselling author Mike Lupica comes a story about a young basketball player confronting the truth about his hero and grappling...
Fighting for the Forest
How FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps Helped Save America
In an inspiring middle grade nonfiction work, P. O’Connell Pearson tells the story of the Civilian Conservation Corps—one of Franklin Delano Roosev...
2020 - 2021 Lamplighter Award Nominee
An Invisible Thread
A Young Readers' Edition
A Parents’ Choice Recommended Award Winner A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection From New York Times bestselling authors Laura Schroff and...
2021 - 2022 Great Texas Mosquito List
Look Both Ways
A Tale Told in Ten Blocks
A National Book Award Finalist Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book UK Carnegie Medal winner An NPR Favorite Book of 2019 A New York Times Best Chi...
Tyrannosaurus Wrecks
In the latest novel in New York Times bestselling author Stuart Gibbs’s FunJungle series, Teddy Fitzroy returns as FunJungle’s resident sleuth to s...