TAYSHAS takes its name from the Caddo Indian word meaning “friends or allies.” Written as texas, texios, tejas, teyas or tayshas, the word was applied to the Caddos by the Spanish in eastern Texas, who regarded them as friends and allies against the Apaches.

The goal of the TAYSHAS reading list is to motivate young adults to become livelong readers adn to participate in the community of readers in Texas. Students in grades 9 – 12 are encouraged to read books for pleasure from the list which includes fiction and nonfiction titles.

2018 List

Titles in bold indicate a TAYSHAS Top Ten Book. Top Ten books are selected from those which received a unanimous vote in the committee’s initial voting process.

Albertalli, Becky, The UpSide of Unrequited
Ali, S.K., Saints and Misfits
Alsaid, Ali, North of Happy
Anderson, Jodi Lynn, Midnight at the Electric
Anderson, M.T., Landscape with Invisible Hand
Anderson, Natalie C., City of Saints & Thieves
Bennett, Jenn. Alex, Approximately
Bergstrom, Scott, The Cruelty
Bolden, Tonya, Crossing Ebenezer Creek
Braun, Melinda, Avalanche
Buxbaum, Julie. What to Say Next
Chokshi, Roshani, A Crown of Wishes
Colbert, Brandy, Little & Lion: a Novel
Crowley, Cath, Words in Deep Blue
Damico, Gina, Waste of Space
Davis, Kenneth C., In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives
Demetrios, Heather, Bad Romance
Deuker, Carl, Gutless
Devlin, Calla, Tell Me Something Real
Deiderich, Philippe, Playing For the Devil’s Fire
Elliott, David, Bull
Elliott, L.M., Suspect Red
Fleming, Melissa, A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee’s Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival
Forest, Laura, The Black Witch
Gardner, Whitney, You’re Welcome, Universe
Garvin, Jeff, Symptoms of Being Human
Girard, M-E., Girl Mans Up
Green, John, Turtles All the Way Down
Heilig, Heidi, The Girl from Everywhere
Heiligman, Deborah, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers
Hofmeister, Peter Brown, This Is the Part Where You Laugh
Hopkins, Ellen, The You I’ve Never Known
Hruby Powell, Patricia, Loving vs. Virginia: A Documentary Novel of the Landmark Civil Rights Case
Hutton, Keely, Soldier Boy
Jackson, Tiffany D., Allegedly
Jensen, Kelly (editor), Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World
Kincaid, S.J., The Diabolic
King, A.S., Still Life with Tornado
Kirby, Matthew J., A Taste for Monsters
Kun, Michael and Susan Mullen, We Are Still Tornadoes
La Valley, Josanne, Factory Girl
LaCour, Nina, We Are Okay
Laskin, Pamela L., Ronit & Jamil
Latham, Jennifer, Dreamland Burning
LaZebnik, Claire, Things I Should Have Known
Lee, Fonda, Exo
Lee, Mackenzi, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue
Lee, Stacey, Outrun the Moon
Livingston, Lesley, The Valiant
Lockhart, E., Genuine Fraud
Magariel, Daniel, One of the Boys: a Novel
Marrin, Albert, Uprooted: The Japanese American Experience During World War II
Mathieu, Jennifer, Moxie
McCall, Guadalupe Garcia, Shame the Stars
McLemore, Anna Maria, When the Moon Was Ours: a Novel
Mixon, Donovan, AHGOTTAHANDLEONIT
Murphy, Julie, Ramona Blue
Noah, Trevor, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
Okorafor, Nnedi, Akata Warrior
Ormsbee, Kathryn, Tash Hearts Tolstoy
O’Sullivan, Joanne, Between Two Skies
Perkins, Mitali, You Bring the Distant Near
Rekulak, Jason, The Impossible Fortress: a Novel
Roe, Robin, A List of Cages
Roth, Veronica, Carve the Mark
Saenz, Benjamin Alire, The Inexplicable Logic of My Life
Sedgwick, Marcus, Saint Death
Sheinkin, Steve, Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team
Shusterman, Neal, Scythe
Smith, Clete Barrett, Mr. 60%
Sones, Sonya, Saving Red
Stone, Nic, Dear Martin
Sutherland, Krystal, Our Chemical Hearts
Thomas, Angie, The Hate U Give
Vlahos, Len, Life in a Fishbowl
Watson, Renee, Piecing Me Together
Worsley, Lucy, Maid of the King’s Court
Yoon, Nicola, The Sun is Also a Star
Young, Suzanne, All in Pieces
Zappia, Francesca, Eliza and Her Monsters
Zentner, Jeff, Goodbye Days: a Novel
Zoboi, Ibi, American Street

Resources