Tayshas Current List
A high school reading list for the State of Texas.
Collection Development Statement
The TAYSHAS Reading List is not designed to support any particular curriculum. Librarians are not required or expected to purchase every book on the list. Due to the diversity in age range and topics, librarians should follow their local collection development policies and guidelines when considering which titles to purchase for their library.
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 lifelong readers and 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.
2024 Nominations
Click the button below to submit a nomination for the 2024 TAYSHAS Reading List .
To see the titles currently nominated for the 2024 TAYSHAS Reading List, click the button below:
2024 CURRENT TAYSHAS Nominations
To learn more about nomination criteria, please click here.
2023 TAYSHAS Reading List TOP 10
2023 TAYSHAS TOP 10 PRESENTATION
2023 TAYSHAS Reading List & Resources
2023 TAYSHAS READING LIST – BY TITLE
2023 TAYSHAS ANNOTATED READING LIST
2023 TAYSHAS Reading List by Title
| TITLE | AUTHOR |
| 14 Ways to Die | Ralph, Vincent |
| A Year to the Day | Benway, Robin |
| **Abuela, Don’t Forget Me | Ogle, Rex |
| Ace of Spades | Àbíké-Íyímídé, Faridah |
| After the Ink Dries | Gustafsen, Cassie |
| Ain’t Burned All the Bright | Reynolds, Jason; artwork by Jason Griffin |
| All My Rage | Tahir, Sabaa |
| All of Us Villains | Foody, Amanda |
| An Emotion of Great Delight | Mafi, Tahereh |
| And We Rise | Martin, Erica |
| Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World | Saenz, Benjamin |
| Ashfall Legacy | Lore, Pittacus |
| Being Mary Bennet | Peterson, JC |
| Better Than the Movies | Painter, Lynn |
| Between Shades of Gray: The Graphic Novel | Donkin, Andrew |
| Blade of Secrets | Levenseller, Tricia |
| Bluebird | Cameron, Sharon |
| Burn Down Rise Up | Tirado, Vincent |
| Concrete Rose | Thomas, Angie |
| Dark Room Etiquette | Row, Robin |
| Dead Flip | Farizan, Sara |
| Demon in the Wood | Bardugo, Leigh, and Dani Pendergast |
| Donuts and Other Proclamations of Love | Reck, Jared |
| Eat Your Heart Out | Devos, Kelly |
| **Fadeaway | Vickers, E. B. |
| Fat Chance, Charlie Vega | Maldanado, Crystal |
| **Full Flight | Schumacher, Ashley |
| Galaxy: The Prettiest Star | Axelrod, Jadzia |
| Girl on Fire | Keys, Alicia |
| Heartbreak Symphony | Kemp, Laekan Zea |
| High | Sullivan, Mary |
| Hollow Fires | Ahmed, Samira |
| Horror Hotel | Fulton, Victoria, and Faith Mcclaren |
| **How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe | Gilliland, Raquel |
| How Not to Fall in Love | Firkins, Jacqueline |
| How We Ricochet | Gardner, Faith |
| Huda F Are You? | Fahmy, Huda |
| I Kissed Shara Wheeler: A Novel | McQuiston, Casey |
| **I Must Betray You | Sepetys, Ruta |
| Iron Widow | Zhao, Xiran Jay |
| Kiss & Tell | Khorram, Adib |
| Lawless Spaces | Haydu, Corey Ann |
| **Letters to a Young Athlete | Bosh, Chris |
| Lock the Doors | Ralph, Vincent |
| Long Story Short | Kaylor, Serena |
| Love & Other Great Expectations | Dean, Becky |
| Love in English | Andreu, Maria |
| M is for Monster | Dutton, Talia |
| Mere Mortals | Lange, Erin Jade |
| My Last Summer with Cass | Crilley, Mark |
| Nothing More to Tell | McManus, Karen |
| On the Hook | Stork, Francisco X. |
| Once Upon a Broken Heart | Garber, Stephanie |
| Once Upon a K-prom | Cho, Kat |
| Punching Bag | Ogle, Rex |
| Ride With Me | Keating, Lucy |
| Serendipity: Ten Romantic Tropes, Transformed | Meyer, Marissa, editor |
| Seven Dirty Secrets | Richards, Natalie |
| Six Crimson Cranes | Lim, Elizabeth |
| Some Other Now | Everett, Sarah |
| Squire | Alfageeh, Sara, and Nadia Shammas |
| Sunny G’s Series of Rash Decisions | Dhillon, Navdeep Singh |
| Tahira in Bloom | Heron, Farah |
| The Agathas | Glascow, Kathleen, and Liz Lawson |
| The Anthropocene Reviewed | Green, John |
| The Awakening of Malcolm X | Shabazz, Ilyasah with Tiffany D. Jackson |
| The Box in the Woods | Johnson, Maureen |
| The Cost of Knowing | Morris, Brittney |
| The Counselors | Goodman, Jessica |
| The Dead and the Dark | Gould, Courtney Nichols |
| The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School | Reyes, Sonora |
| The Lost Dreamer | Huerta, Lizz |
| The Mary Shelley Club | Moldavsky, Goldy |
| The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin | Wilson, Kip |
| The Name She Gave Me | Culley, Betty |
| **The Silence That Binds Us | Ho, Joanna |
| **The Weight of Blood | Jackson, Tiffany D |
| The Words We Keep | Stewart, Erin |
| These Deadly Games | Urban, Diana |
| These Hollow Vows | Ryan, Lexi |
| They’ll Never Catch Us | Goodman, Jessica |
| This Poison Heart | Bayron, Kalynn |
| Together We Burn | Ibanez, Isabel |
| **Tonight We Rule the World | Smedley, Zack |
| Vampires, Hearts, & Other Dead Things | Fuston, Margie |
| Vespertine | Rogerson, Margaret |
| Vinyl Moon | Browne, Mahogany L. |
| Walls | Elliott, L. M. |
| **We Can Be Heroes | McCauley, Kyrie |
| Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure | Hancox, Lewis |
| When You Get The Chance | Lord, Emma |
| Where I Belong | Mickelson, Marcia |
| Why Is Everybody Yelling?: Growing Up in My Immigrant Family | Russo, Marisabina |
| XOXO | Oh, Axie |
| Year on Fire | Buxbaum, Julie |
| You’d Be Home Now | Glasgow, Kathleen |
| You’ll be the Death of Me | McManus, Karen |
| You’ve Reached Sam | Thao, Dustin |
Titles with ** indicate a TAYSHAS Top Ten Book.
**Top Ten Books are selected from those that received a unanimous vote in the committee’s initial voting process.
TLA Thanks Our Sponsor:
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YART Volunteers
Ready to take your love of reading young adult books to the next level? Volunteering for one of YART’s reading committee lists allows you to help curate a diverse list of books that meet the needs of all young adults in Texas. You can also volunteer for one of YART’s executive board positions to help advocate for YA reading, publicize reading lists, work with publishers, and plan conferences.
While we will keep this form active year-round, please complete the form by October 1, 2023, to be considered for 2024 positions.
Nominate a library worker for the YARI Award.
YARI Award Nomination Google Form
To learn more about the YARI Award, email yart@members.txla.org.
Young Adult Reading Incentive Award
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