×
2020 TAYSHAS Reading List

Titles with an * 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.

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 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.


*With The Fire On High

by Elizabeth Acevedo


*Shout

by Laurie Halse Anderson




*Stepsister

by Jennifer Donnelly


*Heretics Anonymous

by Katie Henry


*The Downstairs Girl

by Stacey Lee




*Buried Beneath The Baobab Tree

by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani


*Patron Saints Of Nothing

by Randy Ribay








Little White Lies

by Jennifer Barnes


Serious Moonlight

by Jenn Bennett


Girl Made Of Stars

by Ashley Herring Blake


This Book Is Not Yet Rated

by Peter Bognanni


Invisible Heroes of World War II

by Jerry Borrowman


Sky Without Stars

by Jessica Brody


Gilded Wolves

by Roshani Chokshi




Stronger, Faster And More Beautiful

by Arwen Elys Dayton




500 Words Or Less

by Juleah Del Rosario


We Are Lost And Found

by Helene Dunbar


Voices The Final Hours Of Joan Of Arc

by David Elliott


Dear Evan Hansen

by Val Emmich


We Hunt The Flame

by Hafsah Faizal


This Moment Is Your Life

by Mariam Gates




How To Make Friends With The Dark

by Kathleen Glasgow






Brave Face

by Shaun David Hutchinson


The Past And Other Things That Should Stay Buried

by Shaun David Hutchinson


Let Me Hear A Rhyme

by Tiffany Jackson


Truly Devious

by Maureen Johnson


A Curse So Dark And Lonely

by Brigid Kemmerer


Darius The Great Is Not Ok

by Adib Khorram


American Royals

by Katharine McGee


Blanca And Roja

by Anna-Marie McLemore


Two Can Keep A Secret

by Karen McManus


#MurderTrending

by Gretchen McNeil




Grand Theft Horse

by Greg Neri


Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens

by Marieke Nijkamp




Neanderthal Opens The Door To The Universe

by Preston Norton


Anger Is A Gift

by Mark Oshiro




Neverworld Wake

by Marisha Pessl


Field Guide To The North American Teenager

by Ben Philippe


Opposite Of Always

by Justin Reynolds


Pumpkinheads

by Rainbow Rowell


Four Dead Queens

by Astrid Scholte






Field Notes On Love

by Jennifer Smith


Four Three Two One

by Courtney Stevens






Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me

by Mariko Tamaki


Secrets of the Casa Rosada

by Alex Temblador


On The Come Up

by Angie Thomas


Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth Of The Faun

by Guillermo Del Toro


The Cold Is In Her Bones

by Peternelle Van Arsdale


Dear America: Notes Of An Undocumented Citizen

by Jose Antonio Vargas


Ink Knows No Borders: Poems Of The Immigrant And Refugee Experience

by Patrice Vecchione


Kiss Number 8

by Colleen Venable


Listen To Your Heart

by Kasie West




Girls With Sharp Sticks

by Suzanne Young


Rayne And Delilah's Midnite Matinee

by Jeff Zentner


Seven Torments Of Amy And Craig

by Don Zolidis