The 2026 TAYSHAS Reading List is here! 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 Texas reading community. Students in grades 9-12 are encouraged to read books for pleasure from the list, which includes fiction and nonfiction titles. High school students are sure to find a favorite from this list! Here are the titles from the 2026 list that are in the TBP collection.
For more information, check out the Texas Library Association’s website.
Fiction
| ALL THE NOISE AT ONCE by DeAndra Davis (DB 129268) |
| BETTER THAN REVENGE by Kasia West (DB 126531) |
| BINGSU FOR TWO by Sujin Witherspoon (DB 127165) |
| CRASHING INTO YOU by Rocky Callen (DB 122976) |
| CURIOUS KIND OF MAGIC by Mara Rutherford (IN PROCESS) |
| DARKLY by Marisha Pessl (DB 130776) |
| EVERY BORROWED BEAT by Erin Stewart (DB 128085) |
| EVERY TIME YOU HEAR THAT SONG by Jenna Voris (DB 120296) |
| EVERYTHING I PROMISED YOU by Katy Upperman (DB 127879) |
| FAKE SKATING by Lynn Painter (IN PROCESS) |
| GIRLS LIKE HER by Melanie Sumrow (DB 122609) |
| HEIR OF STORMS by Lauryn Hamilton Murray (DB 130335) |
| RULES FOR CAMOUFLAGE by Kirstin Cronn-Mills (DB 122196) |
| SHAMPOO UNICORN by Sawyer Lovett (DB 130728) |
| SISTERS IN THE WIND by Angeline Boulley (DB 132294) |
| SHIPSHOCK by Caroline O’Donoghue (DB 130152) |
| SUCH LOVELY SKIN by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne (DB 124537, BR 26296 IN PROCESS) |
| EXECUTIONERS THREE by Susan Dennard (DB 132374 IN PROCESS) |
| KILL FACTOR by Ben Oliver (DB 119820) |
| THIS IS WHERE WE DIE by Cindy R. X. He (IN PROCESS) |
| THIS THING OF OURS by Frederick Joseph (DB 131118) |
| TWENTY-FOUR SECONDS FROM NOW: A LOVE STORY by Jason Reynolds (DB 125122, BR 25712) |
| UNDER THE SAME STARS by Libba Bray (DB 127015) |
| WHEN WE RIDE by Rex Ogle (DB 129269) |
Nonfiction
| DEATH IN THE JUNGLE by Candace Fleming (DB 129360) |
| ROAD HOME by Rex Ogle (DB 122589) |