ActKayla MillerIn this graphic novel, sixth grader Olive campaigns for class president while challenging school policies she sees as unfair. Her run for office puts her up against Trent and Sawyer, two close friends, and turns the campaign into a difficult contest among friends. As Olive learns about historic protests, she tries to make her voice heard and change school policy. The book also includes sections on past protests and further reading.All readersLexile Text Measure 580LATOS Book Level 3.8View book detailsTexas Bluebonnet Award Master List 2021-2022
The 2021 through 2022 edition contains 20 selections published by the Texas Library Association. It records one Texas Bluebonnet cycle, beginning with the committee's Master List and leading to the student vote. Students in Grades 3 through 6 read from the 20-book list and vote for a favorite.
2021-2022 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master ListSee the original list
Selections20
Published byTexas Library Association
SectionsAll readers
All readers
20 selections
ActKayla MillerIn this graphic novel, sixth grader Olive campaigns for class president while challenging school policies she sees as unfair. Her run for office puts her up against Trent and Sawyer, two close friends, and turns the campaign into a difficult contest among friends. As Olive learns about historic protests, she tries to make her voice heard and change school policy. The book also includes sections on past protests and further reading.All readersLexile Text Measure 580LATOS Book Level 3.8View book details
The Best of IggyAnnie BarrowsIggy insists that he is not a bad kid, even though he has done many things other people consider bad. He is not especially sorry about most of them and thinks people overreact to small mischief, including pancakes. But one supposed Best Idea becomes the Worst Idea of All Time, and someone is hurt. The story follows Iggy’s comic voice as his view of his own behavior meets its consequences.All readersLexile Text Measure 550LATOS Book Level 3.7View book details
Black Brother, Black BrotherJewell Parker RhodesDonte and his biracial brother Trey attend mostly white, wealthy Middlefield Prep. Donte is perceived as Black while Trey is perceived as white, and Donte faces blame, bullying, and racist treatment that his brother does not. After an incident involving Alan, the school fencing team’s leader, Donte is arrested and suspended. Urged by Trey, he learns fencing with former Olympic fencer Arden Jones and enters training and competitions that lead toward a confrontation with Alan and the school.All readersLexile Text Measure HL400LATOS Book Level 2.8View book details
The Canyon’s EdgeDusti BowlingNora is on a climbing trip with her father when a flash flood sweeps him away. Left by herself in an isolated canyon in the Southwest, she must survive the disaster while confronting painful inner struggles. Told as a novel in verse, the story centers on her fight against the natural landscape and the emotional aftermath of what has happened. Nora's time alone becomes a test of endurance, bravery, and healing.All readersView book details
Efrén DividedErnesto CisnerosEfrén's life is upended when his mother is suddenly deported. A seventh-grader, he tries to care for the family members who remain while working to bring his amá back. As he pursues reunification, Efrén must decide whom he can trust. The story follows the disruption her removal causes at home and his determined effort to put his family back together.All readersLexile Text Measure 710LATOS Book Level 4.5View book details
The Elephant’s GirlCelesta RimingtonAs a toddler, Lexington Willow is swept away by a tornado and arrives near an elephant enclosure at a Nebraska zoo. Nyah, an elephant, protects her from the storm. Later, Lexington cannot remember the past she lost and seeks it, following a mysterious message connected to the elephant who saved her life. The story is described as a magical adventure for Lexington.All readersView book details
Follow Those Zebras: Solving a Migration MysterySandra MarkleScientists use GPS trackers to investigate the dry-season migration of a herd of about 2,000 South African plains zebras. The herd leaves its grazing area along the Chobe River in Namibia and returns months later. Captioned photographs, maps, and back matter accompany the account of where the zebras travel and why they migrate.All readersLexile Text Measure 1050LATOS Book Level 6.2View book details
A Hatful of Dragons: and More Than 13.8 Billion Other Funny PoemsVikram MadanThis poetry collection brings together comic verses about dragons, musical pandas and pangolins, dinosaur-hatching mail-order eggs, aliens, a robot uncle, and a professor who travels among the book’s pages. The poems use several formats, including limericks, rebuses, and a fill-in-the-blank poem whose choices create more than 13.8 billion combinations. Black-and-white illustrations accompany the playful creatures and surprises.All readersLexile Text Measure 669LATOS Book Level 4.3View book details
Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis MelliferaCandace FlemingThis account follows one honeybee, Apis, from her emergence as an egg through the end of her 35-day life. Before leaving the hive, she performs a changing sequence of work: cleaning the nursery, caring for larvae, attending the queen, making comb, managing food, and guarding the hive. Later, she flies over flowers to gather nectar. Watercolor illustrations present the bee’s viewpoint inside the hive and on flowers.All readersView book details
The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex DexterAaron ReynoldsAfter a chicken is killed by a steamroller, Rex Dexter is cursed by the Grim Reaper. Wild animals begin appearing in his room, demanding answers about their deaths. Rex’s ghostly visitors are noisy and untidy, and his friend Darvish struggles to believe what has happened. To end the curse, Rex must investigate the mysterious deaths of animals from the Middling Falls Zoo before another one occurs.All readersLexile Text Measure 560LATOS Book Level 4.3View book details
Lexi Magill and the Teleportation TournamentKim LongTwelve-year-old Lexi Magill is a physics whiz determined to win Wisconsin’s Teleportation Tournament. In the annual competition, teams use teleportation to move around the world while working through puzzles based on science. Lexi refuses to let obstacles keep her from the tournament’s top prize. The story combines a high-stakes team contest with worldwide travel, scientific puzzles, and the imagined technology that makes instant journeys possible. Its central challenge is reaching and solving each new problem before the competition ends.All readersView book details
The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to ReadRita Lorraine HubbardThis nonfiction picture-book biography follows Mary Walker’s long wish to learn to read. Enslaved until age 15, she later supported her family through work, including sharecropping. At 114, after outliving her husband and children, she began learning to read in a retirement home. Mary later read aloud from her Bible and lived to 121. Cut-paper collage illustrations accompany her story.All readersView book details
Our Friend Hedgehog: The Story of UsLauren CastilloWhen a storm carries Hedgehog’s stuffed dog, Mutty, away from their island home, Hedgehog swims to shore to search for him. Mole offers comfort and a plan, and Owl directs the growing group toward Beaver’s dam and then the marsh. Along the way they meet Hen, her chicks, and Annika Mae Flores, a girl who has also lost something important.All readersView book details
Scary Stories for Young FoxesJunyi WuAn old vixen tells connected cautionary tales to young fox kits. The stories center on Mia and Uly, foxes from separate dens who are cut off from their families and must survive the dangers of the forest. Their frightening encounters involve predators, people, other foxes, and monsters. The book is structured as a collection of horror tales, with the kits facing a range of terrifying episodes.All readersLexile Text Measure 640LATOS Book Level 4.4View book details
The Secret Garden of George Washington CarverGene BarrettaThis picture-book biography recounts George Washington Carver’s path from being born enslaved to becoming an inventor. It includes his childhood secret garden and contrasts that garden with his later life in a segregated town. Colorful, realistic illustrations support the account, which also provides a timeline, bibliography, and suggestions for further reading.All readersView book details
Sharuko: el arqueólogo Peruano Julio C. Tello / Peruvian Archaeologist Julio C. TelloMonica BrownThis bilingual Spanish-English biography follows Julio Tello, who grew up near Lima, Peru. As a boy, he was called Sharuko, a Quechua name meaning “brave,” and explored caves in the nearby foothills, where he found ancient tombs. Those discoveries fed his curiosity and led to his work as an archaeologist. His scholarship helped people around the world learn about the scientific achievements of ancient Peruvian cultures, including irrigation systems and surgery.All readersView book details
Someplace to Call HomeSandra DallasSet in 1933, this novel follows twelve-year-old Hallie Turner and her two brothers after their family is reduced to the three of them. They drive along rural American back roads, pulled into a migratory life as they look for work and somewhere to belong. Their journey unfolds during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, when many people across the country had lost their jobs.All readersLexile Text Measure 580LATOS Book Level 3.8View book details
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the SkyKwame MbaliaWhile visiting his grandparents in Alabama, Tristan falls into Alke, a dimension where figures from African and African American folklore are alive. Grieving his friend Eddie, he encounters Brer Rabbit, John Henry, Anansi, and others. The hole Tristan made is feeding an evil threat, so he joins companions on a mission to find Anansi and bring Alke’s wary communities together.All readersLexile Text Measure HL680LATOS Book Level 4.4View book details
Ways to Make SunshineRenée WatsonRyan, an African American fourth grader in Portland, Oregon, lives with her parents and older brother Ray. After her father loses his postal-service job, the family has less money and must move to a smaller house. Ryan also considers changes in her friendship with Amanda, worries about public speaking at church and a school talent show, and investigates clues left by four hairpins in her new home.All readersWord Count 27746View book details
Words on FireJennifer NielsenIn nineteenth-century Lithuania under Russian occupation, Audra’s family faces soldiers who demand that people become Russian. Lithuanian books, religion, culture, and language have been prohibited. Audra discovers that her parents are involved in a dangerous secret effort to move books. When Cossacks arrive at the family farm in June 1893, she must flee with a package and instructions for delivering it, leaving her parents behind.All readersWord Count 72232View book details