2023 Texas Lone Star Reading List

Check out the 2023 Texas Lone Star reading list, developed by the Texas Library Association to encourage students in grades 6, 7, and 8 to explore a variety of current books.

 

Plano Public Library has all 30 Lone Star books available for checkout, and you can visit a library location for information on Texas Library Association reading lists and to browse our Texas 2×2’s, Lone Star, and Bluebonnet titles.

Perfectly Parvin by Olivia Abtahi. After being dumped at the beginning of freshman year, Iranian-American Parvin Mohammadi sets out to win the ultimate date to Homecoming. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

Iveliz Explains It All by Andrea Beatriz Arango. Twelve-year-old Iveliz is trying to manage her mental health and advocate for the help and understanding she deserves but in the meantime her new friend calls her crazy and her abuela Mimi dismisses the therapy and medicine Iveliz needs to feel like herself. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

The Swag Is in the Socks by Kelly J. Baptist. Twelve-year-old Xavier Moon gets the courage to step out of the shadows when his great-uncle gives him some outlandish socks and some even stranger requests. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

The Second Chance of Benjamin Waterfalls by James Bird. After being caught stealing one too many times, Benjamin Waterfalls is sent to a “boot camp” at the Ojibwe reservation where he searches for answers as he tries to turn his life around and embrace this second chance. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen by Isaac Blum. Hoodie Rosen’s life isn’t that bad. Sure, his entire Orthodox Jewish community has just picked up and moved to the quiet, mostly non-Jewish town of Tregaron, but Hoodie’s world hasn’t changed that much. He’s got basketball to play, studies to avoid, and a supermarket full of delicious kosher snacks to eat. The people of Tregaron aren’t happy that so many Orthodox Jews are moving in at once, but that’s not Hoodie’s problem. That is, until he meets and falls for Anna-Marie Diaz-O’Leary – who happens to be the daughter of the obstinate mayor trying to keep Hoodie’s community out of the town. And things only get more complicated when Tregaron is struck by a series of antisemitic crimes that quickly escalate to deadly violence. As his community turns on him for siding with the enemy, Hoodie finds himself caught between his first love and the only world he’s ever known. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

Across the Desert by Dusti Bowling. While using a public library computer to find help for her mother who is addicted to pain medicine, twelve-year-old Jolene witnesses a friend’s live-streamed crash-landing in the Arizona desert and embarks on a journey to rescue her. Print / Large print / Playaway / eBook / eAudiobook.

The Girl in the Lake by India Hill Brown. Celeste knows she should be excited to spend two weeks at her grandparents’ lake house with her brother, Owen, and their cousins Capri and Daisy, but she’s not. Bugs, bad cell reception, and the dark waters of the lake… no thanks. On top of that, she just failed her swim test and hates being in the water – it’s terrifying. But her grandparents are strong believers in their family knowing how to swim, especially having grown up during a time of segregation at public pools. And soon strange things start happening-the sound of footsteps overhead late at night. A flickering light in the attic window. And Celete’s cousins start accusing her of pranking them when she’s been nowhere near them! Print / Playaway / eBook / eAudiobook.

Falling Short by Ernesto Cisneros. Best friends Isaac and Marco face various challenges in sixth grade, such as Isaac getting better grades, Marco winning a spot on the basketball team, and both seeing their efforts make a change in their respective family lives. They hope their friendship and support for one another will be enough to help them from falling short. Print / Large print / Playaway / eBook / eAudiobook.

The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton. Eleven-year-old Ella Durand is the first Conjuror to attend the Arcanum Training Institute, a magic school in the clouds where Marvellers from around the world practice their cultural arts. Despite her excitement, Ella discovers that being the first isn’t easy–some Marvellers mistrust her magic. Eventually, she finds friends in elixirs teacher, Masterji Thakur, and fellow misfits Brigit and Jason. When a dangerous criminal escapes prison, supposedly with a Conjuror’s aid, Ella becomes the target of suspicion. Worse, Masterji Thakur mysteriously disappears while away on a research trip. With the help of her friends and her own growing powers, Ella must find a way to clear her family’s name and track down her mentor before it’s too late. Also a 2023-2024 Bluebonnet title. Print / Playaway / eBook / eAudiobook.

Rain Rising by Courtne Comrie. Thirteen-year-old Rain, who struggles with low self-esteem, must overcome sadness after her older brother Xander is severely beaten up at a frat party, but through the help of an after-school circle group, Rain finds the courage to help herself and her family heal. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

Yusuf Azeem is Not a Hero by Saadia Faruqi. Yusuf is excited to start middle school in his small Texas town, but with the twentieth anniversary of the September 11 attacks coming up, suddenly it feels like the country’s same anger and grief is all focused on his Muslim community. Print / Large print / eBook / eAudiobook.

Rules for Vampires by Alex Foulkes. After one hundred years of being a vampire, it’s time for Eleonora to have her Birthnight … All Leo has to do is hunt down and kill her first prey … After all, who will miss an orphan … But an accidental fire causes more death and destruction … Instead of killing one carefully selected victim, she’s created several ghosts from the orphanage residents. And one sinister specter, the Orphanmaster, is poised to terrorize the living residents in a nearby town. To stop him … Leo must team up with the orphan ghost Minna. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

Concealed by Christina Diaz Gonzalez. What if you had no name, no past, and no home? Ivette. Joanna. And now: Katrina Whatever her name is, it won’t last long. Katrina doesn’t know any of the details about her past, but she does know that she and her parents are part of the Witness Protection Program. Whenever her parents say they have to move on and start over, she takes on a new identity. A new name, a new hair color, a new story. Until their location leaks and her parents disappear. Forced to embark on a dangerous rescue mission, Katrina and her new friend Parker set out to save her parents–and find out the truth about her secret past and the people that want her family dead. But every new discovery reveals that Katrina’s entire life has been built around secrets covered up with lies and that her parents were actually the ones keeping the biggest secret of all. Katrina must now decide if learning the whole truth is worth the price of losing everything she has ever believed about herself and her family. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera. A girl named Petra Pena, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita. But Petra’s world is ending. Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children – among them Petra and her family – have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race. Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet – and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity’s past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard – or purged them altogether. Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again? Print / Large print / Playaway / eBook / eAudiobook.

Shinji Takahashi and the Mark of the Coatl by Julie Kagawa. To free himself from an ancient curse, thirteen-year-old Shinji Takahashi must team up with a secret organization of explorers, find a magical font hidden in the jungles of Mexico, and replace a stolen idol. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

Jennifer Chan is Not Alone by Tae Keller. Twelve-year-old Mallory Moss finally feels like she fits in at school, but everything changes when she meets the eccentric Jennifer Chan, and when Jennifer goes missing, Mallory is determined to find her. Print / Large print / eBook / eAudiobook.

Linked by Gordon Korman. Link, Michael, and Dana live in a quiet town. But it’s woken up very quickly when someone sneaks into school and vandalizes it with a swastika. Because Link is one of the most popular guys in school, everyone’s looking to him to figure it out. And because Dana’s the only Jewish girl in the whole town, everyone’s treating her more like an outsider than ever. The closer Link, Michael, and Dana get to the truth, the more there is to face-not just the crimes of the present, but the crimes of the past. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

One for All by Lillie Lainoff. In 1655 sixteen-year-old Tania is the daughter of a retired musketeer, but she is afflicted with extreme vertigo and subject to frequent falls; when her father is murdered she finds that he has arranged for her to attend Madame de Treville’s newly formed Académie des Mariées in Paris, which, it turns out, is less a school for would-be wives, than a fencing academy for girls–and so Tania begins her training to be a new kind of musketeer and to get revenge for her father. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

Flip the Script by Lyla Lee. As an avid watcher of K-dramas, Hana knows all the tropes to avoid when she finally lands a starring role in a buzzy new drama. And she can totally handle her fake co-star boyfriend, heartthrob Bryan Yoon, who might be falling in love with her. After all, she promised the TV producers a contract romance, and that’s all they’re going to get from her. But when showrunners bring on a new lead actress to challenge Hana’s role as main love interest–and worse, it’s someone Hana knows all too well–can Hana fight for her position on the show, while falling for her on-screen rival in real life? Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd. When twelve-year-old Olive, who suffers from brittle bone disease and has been homeschooled all her life, finally attends school in person she soon discovers fitting in is not that easy, but if she can find the magical wish-granting hummingbird that supposedly lives nearby, and proves herself worthy, maybe her deepest wish will be granted. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

Battle Dragons: City of Thieves by Alex London. To protect his friends and family, Abel must figure out what is worth fighting for when he partners with a stolen dragon, an action that has him riding in kin battles and keeping more secrets than a dragon has scales. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

A Forgery of Roses by Jessica S. Olson. She’s a portrait artist whose paintings alter people’s bodies, which is a talent some would kidnap, blackmail, and worse, to control. Guarding that secret is the only way to keep her younger sister safe now that their parents are gone. But one frigid night, the governor’s wife discovers the truth and threatens to expose Myra if she does not complete a special portrait that would resurrect the governor’s dead son. Once she arrives at the legendary stone mansion, however, it becomes clear that the boy’s death was no accident. A killer stalks these halls — one disturbingly obsessed with portrait magic. Desperate to get out of the manor as quickly as possible, Myra turns to the governor’s older son for help completing the painting before the secret she spent her life concealing makes her the killer’s next victim. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

Black Bird, Blue Road by Sofiya Pasternack. As the daughter of a prominent judge of Khazaria, twelve-year-old Ziva is expected to focus on learning etiquette and decorum in hopes of finding a good husband. But she doesn’t care about any of that. Instead, she spends her days with her twin brother, Pesah, as they work to try to find a cure for his leprosy. Now Pesah’s getting worse. The best doctors have given him mere weeks to live, and even more alarming, Pesah has a vision: the Angel of Death is coming to collect him on Rosh Hashanah, only one month away. In a panic, Ziva runs away with Pesah to the Byzantine Empire, home to hundreds of doctors. Surely one of them must have a cure. But when Ziva accidentally frees a half-demon boy named Almas on their journey, unintentionally binding him to her until his debt is paid, Almas tells her about the legendary city of Luz, where the Angel of Death is forbidden to tread. If the three of them can get there by Rosh Hashanah, they can cure Pesah for good. They just need to run faster than the Angel of Death can fly. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

Tumble by Celia C. Pérez. Before she decides whether to accept her stepfather’s proposal of adoption, twelve-year-old Adela Ramírez reaches out to her estranged biological father–who is in the midst of a career comeback as a luchador–and the eccentric extended family of wrestlers she has never met, bringing Adela closer to understanding the expansive definition of family. Print / Large print / eBook / eAudiobook.

Children of the Fox by Kevin Sands. Lured by the promise of more money than they’ve ever dreamed of, five young criminals are hired to steal a heavily guarded treasure from the most powerful sorcerer in the city. Though their shadowy backgrounds mean that they’ve never trusted anyone but themselves, the five must learn to rely on each other in order to get the job done. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

The Clackity by Lora Senf. To rescue her aunt from the ghost of a serial killer, twelve-year-old Evie Von Rathe embarks on a journey into a strange world filled with hungry witches, ghosts, and a story thief, all while trying to fulfill her deal with the Clackity. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys. In a country governed by isolation, fear, and a tyrannical dictator, seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu is blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer, but he decides to use his position to try to outwit his handler, undermine the regime, give voice to fellow Romanians, and expose to the world what is happening in his country. Print / Large print / Playaway / eBook / eAudiobook.

Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A. F. Steadman. Thirteen-year-old Skandar Smith has always wanted to be a Unicorn rider, but when the mysterious Weaver steals the most powerful unicorn in the world, Skandar must face sky battles, ancient secrets, and bloodthirsty unicorns in order to save his island. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

The Language of Seabirds by Wil Taylor. Jeremy is not excited about the prospect of spending the summer with his dad and his uncle in a seaside cabin in Oregon. It’s the first summer after his parents’ divorce, and he hasn’t exactly been seeking alone time with his dad. He doesn’t have a choice, though, so he goes . . . and on his first day takes a walk on the beach and finds himself intrigued by a boy his age running by. Eventually, he and Runner Boy (Evan) meet–and what starts out as friendship blooms into something neither boy is expecting . . . and also something both boys have been secretly hoping for. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.

Dust & Grim by Chuck Wendig. Thirteen-year-old Molly doesn’t know how she got the short end of the stick — being raised by her neglectful father — while Dustin, the older brother she’s never met, got their mother and the keys to the family estate. But now the siblings are both orphaned, she’s come home for her inheritance, and if Dustin won’t welcome her into the family business, then she’ll happily take her half in cash. There’s just one problem: the family business is a mortuary for monsters, and Molly’s not sure she’s ready to deal with mysterious doors, talking wolves, a rogue devourer of magic, and a secret cemetery. It’s going to take all of Dustin’s stuffy supernatural knowledge and Molly’s most heroic cosplay (plus a little help from non-human friends) for the siblings to figure it out and save the day… if only they can get along for five minutes. Print / eBook / eAudiobook.