2024 Texas Topaz Reading List

"When a high school student started a private Instagram account that used racist and sexist memes to make his friends laugh, he thought of it as "edgy" humor. Over time, the edge got sharper. Then a few other kids found out about the account. Pretty soon, everyone knew. Ultimately no one in the small town of Albany, California, was safe from the repercussions of the account's discovery. Not the girls targeted by the posts. Not the boy who created...

The Gestapo is urgently chasing the person they have declared to be the "most dangerous spy" working for the Allies. But she keeps evading them... This the never-before-told story of Virginia Hall, an American spy who changed the course of World War II. Born into a wealthy family in Baltimore, Maryland, from an early age Virginia knew she would never take the path that was expected of her. Instead, relying mostly on her wits and instincts, she would...

Imagine microscopic worms living in the soil. They enter your body through your bare feet, travel to your intestines, and stay there for years sucking your blood like vampires. You feel exhausted. You get sick easily. It sounds like a nightmare, but that's what happened in the American South during the 1800s and early 1900s. Doctors never guessed that hookworms were making patients ill, but zoologist Charles Stiles knew better. Working with one of...

In this exciting book, a former NASA astronaut inspires the next generation of space travelers with answers to all kids' questions on how people become astronauts, how they prepare for space travel, and what it's like to live and work in space. A kid's guide to leaving the planet from someone who's done it! Former astronaut Terry Virts guides readers through the practical elements of becoming an astronaut, along with the wonders (and challenges!)...

"The Savannah Bananas have peeled back the game of baseball and made it fun again. ... The Bananas throw out a first banana rather than a ball. Their first-base coach dances to 'Thriller' or Britney between innings. Players run into the crowd to hand out roses. And the rules themselves are bananas: if a fan catches a foul ball it's an out; and players might go to bat on stilts or wearing a banana costume. And their fans absolutely love it. ... For...

Birds around the world have so many amazing kinds of beaks! There are short beaks and long beaks, straight beaks and curved beaks, flat beaks and even spoon-shaped beaks. But what do all of these beaks do? Discover how beaks of different shapes and sizes are adapted to help birds sip nectar, make nests, battle for mates, and more! -- Amazon.com

"Botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer's best-selling book Braiding Sweetgrass is adapted for a young adult audience by children's author Monique Gray Smith, bringing Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the lessons of plant life to a new generation" -Publisher

"Can YOU tell a butt from a face? Discover fascinating facts about animals with this hilarious guessing game picture book! Butt or Face offers kids a delightfully cheeky challenge: examine a close-up photo of an animal, and then guess whether you're looking at the top or the…um…bottom. The answer is revealed on the next page with a compete photo of the animal!" -Provided by Publisher

"A masterful exploration of one of nature's most curious ecosystems, Caves is a magical journey into subterranean wonders perfect for fans of Jason Chin. Using evocative storytelling, Nell Cross Beckerman urges children to explore one of nature's most curious ecosystems. Dramatic, poetic language guides kids through different caves around the world while nonfiction text allows for deeper understanding"-- Provided by publisher.

"An unflinching investigation reveals the human rights abuses behind the Congo's cobalt mining operation-and the moral implications that affect us all. Cobalt Red is the searing, first-ever expose of the immense toll taken on the people and environment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by cobalt mining, as told through the testimonies of the Congolese people themselves. Activist and researcher Siddharth Kara has traveled deep into cobalt territory...