Black Boy JoyKwame MbaliaA collection of short fiction, plus a poem and a comic, celebrates Black boys in both ordinary life and imaginative situations. Its entries range from getting ready for a first day of school and skateboarding during the pandemic to taking part in an intergalactic race. A three-part framing story uses magic, while families, friends, and neighborhood communities shape many of the boys’ lives. The anthology brings together seventeen Black authors and a variety of voices and forms.All readersView book detailsTexas Bluebonnet Award Master List 2023-2024
The 2023 through 2024 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.
2023-2024 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master ListSee the original list
Selections20
Published byTexas Library Association
SectionsAll readers
All readers
20 selections
Black Boy JoyKwame MbaliaA collection of short fiction, plus a poem and a comic, celebrates Black boys in both ordinary life and imaginative situations. Its entries range from getting ready for a first day of school and skateboarding during the pandemic to taking part in an intergalactic race. A three-part framing story uses magic, while families, friends, and neighborhood communities shape many of the boys’ lives. The anthology brings together seventeen Black authors and a variety of voices and forms.All readersView book details
BlueNana Ekua Brew-HammondThis picture book traces blue’s place in history and across the world. It considers the color’s significance from ancient uses through more recent developments in making dyes. The text is written in free verse and uses wordplay, while acrylic-wash illustrations accompany the exploration. Back matter offers additional material beyond the main text.All readersLexile Text Measure AD1060LATOS Book Level 7.3View book details
Gladys the Magic ChickenAdam RubinIn ancient times, Gladys is a lucky, perhaps magical chicken whose presence grants wishes. The people she encounters include a shepherd boy who wants beauty, a swordsman hoping to join the Royal Guard, a father wishing happiness for his daughter, and a princess who wants to leave the palace. Her meetings with these comic characters unfold as a series of misadventures.All readersLexile Text Measure AD900LATOS Book Level 5.8View book details
Haven: A Small Cat’s Big AdventureMegan Wagner LloydHaven enjoys a sheltered life as an indoor cat, with baking-bread smells, food in a bright-blue bowl, and the care of Ma Millie, her rescuer. When Ma Millie becomes too ill to look after her, Haven decides to find another person who can help. Leaving her familiar home, she travels through a shadowy forest and along unfamiliar, dangerous roads.All readersView book details
Indelible AnnMeghan P. BrowneThis picture-book biography tells the story of Ann Richards, the late governor of Texas. Born Dorothy Ann Willis in a small Texas town, she discovered her voice early and had the courage to use it. The account presents her as a larger-than-life political figure whose life has inspired women in politics.All readersView book details
InvisibleChristina Diaz GonzalezThis graphic novel brings five middle-school students together for community service after teachers group them because they speak Spanish. The assumption that the students have much in common proves wrong. As they work together, secrets emerge and unexpected connections form. The story follows the five students as they move beyond a shared-language label and begin to discover both their differences and the bonds that develop among them.All readersLexile Text Measure GN260LATOS Book Level 2.6View book details
Leave it to Plum!Matt PhelanAt a zoo where peacocks freely serve as ambassadors, Plum is delighted with his role. Trouble begins when Itch, a jealous ningbing, creates havoc and plots to control the zoo. The small mammal’s scheme puts Plum in the position of trying to save the day. The story pairs a peacock and a ningbing in a zoo-set conflict, with greyscale drawings.All readersWord Count 7110View book details
Once Upon a TimStuart GibbsTim is a peasant who wants a future beyond following his woodsman father’s path. In the kingdom of Wyld, he sees being born a prince as the only way to succeed, though he is brave, clever, and tries to do what is right. When Princess Grace is abducted by the evil Stinx, Tim and a friend join Prince Ruprecht’s quest to rescue her.All readersLexile Text Measure 710LATOS Book Level 4.5View book details
Solimar: The Sword of the MonarchsPam Muñoz RyanSolimar is a young royal nearing both her quinceañera and her coronation. She has long watched monarch butterflies migrate in the ouamel forest beside her kingdom, but she eventually crosses a dangerous creek to sit among them. With help from a magical rebozo, Solimar works to defend her kingdom and its natural resources from invaders. Her journey combines royal responsibility, magic, and the monarchs she has observed since childhood.All readersView book details
Tales to Keep You Up At NightDan PoblockiDan Poblocki’s novel begins with a mysterious book whose tales move beyond its pages and into the real world. As its stories take shape, the boundary between invented events and reality becomes increasingly unclear. Tales to Keep You Up At Night presents an eerie premise in which a book holds more than written stories: its contents begin to affect the world around it. The novel’s tension comes from that unsettling overlap between fiction and reality.All readersLexile Text Measure 700LATOS Book Level 4.8View book details
The Beatryce Prophec yKate DiCamilloIn a medieval setting, a girl named Beatryce is found in a monastery stable with no memory beyond her name. Brother Edik persuades the monks to shelter her, but her ability to read and write puts the monastery at risk. Disguised as a novice, Beatryce leaves with the orphan Jack Dory and a devoted goat named Answelica. A prophecy links her to the fall of a king, and soldiers pursue the group as memories of her family return.All readersLexile Text Measure 580LATOS Book Level 4.4View book details
The Dirt Book: Poems About Animals That Live Beneath Our FeetDavid L. HarrisonThis illustrated collection contains fifteen poems about soil: how it forms and the creatures that make their homes below ground. The poems focus on the world underfoot, bringing attention to animals living in dirt and the materials that create soil. Kate Cosgrove’s illustrations accompany the poems, and the book’s vertical format is part of its presentation. Together, the pieces explore underground life through poetry and facts about soil.All readersView book details
The First Cat in Space Ate PizzaMac BarnettA cat, a toenail-trimming robot, and a princess from the moon join forces when rats begin consuming the moon. Their task is to stop the threat before it is too late, while the cat still hopes to get a slice of pizza. Shawn Harris illustrates this offbeat space adventure, which combines a lunar rescue mission with an unusual group of companions.All readersView book details
The Last BeekeeperPablo CartayaIn a future shaped by climate disasters, Yolanda Cicerón lives in the harsh Valley, where she has learned to fear nature. She hopes to leave her farm for Silo, a highly advanced town that accepts only people considered especially smart and useful. Yolanda’s plans are threatened when her family can no longer pay for her schooling. She must also protect the last beehive against concealed dangers that could affect her world.All readersLexile Text Measure 731LATOS Book Level 4.7View book details
The Last MapmakerChristina SoontornvatSai, an apprentice to celebrated mapmaker Paiyoon Wongyai, conceals that her father is a thief in a society that judges people by their family histories. After her island nation’s war, she travels with Paiyoon on a ship sent to chart unknown southern territory. On board, Sai befriends Rian and a stowaway named Bo while the expedition’s purpose becomes tied to the rumored Sunderlands. The fantasy story explores colonialism, resource exploitation, animal cruelty, and environmental preservation.All readersLexile Text Measure 740LATOS Book Level 4.7View book details
The Legend of GravityCharly PalmerA gifted new player at a neighborhood basketball court earns the nickname Gravity for his extraordinary leaps. His team hopes he can lead them to victory in Milwaukee’s Best of the Best pickup tournament. During the final, an exhausted Gravity relies on the skills of Liquid, Sky High, Left 2 Right, and the narrator, shifting the team’s approach toward playing together.All readersLexile Text Measure AD800LATOS Book Level 5.1View book details
The MarvellersDhonielle ClaytonEleven-year-old Conjuror Ella Durand begins at the Arcanum Training Institute, a magic school where she is not welcomed by everyone. When her mentor goes missing and a Marvellian escapes from prison, suspicion turns toward Ella. As blame gathers around her, the young Conjuror must deal with the disappearance, the escape, and the tensions surrounding her place at the institute.All readersLexile Text Measure 670LATOS Book Level 4.3View book details
The Polter-Ghost ProblemBetsy UhrigAldo, Pen, and Jasper anticipate an uneventful summer, including journal assignments they expect to be dull. Their plans shift after the three friends see a partly transparent boy beside the soccer field. The boy has a bad haircut, then disappears into the woods. His appearance interrupts the friends’ ordinary summer and leaves them with a strange sighting connected to the nearby forest.All readersView book details
ThirstVarsha BajajMinni lives in a poor area of Mumbai where communal water taps operate only for a few hours each day and people wait in long lines. Severe shortages worsen when thieves steal water, a crime Minni sees one night. At the high-rise where she has begun working, she encounters plentiful running water and a rooftop pool. While studying for exams and handling family responsibilities, Minni investigates the theft ring affecting her neighborhood.All readersLexile Text Measure 700LATOS Book Level 4.4View book details
Unbound: The Life + Art of Judith ScottJoyce Scott, with Brie SpanglerThis account of artist Judith Scott is told by her twin sister, Joyce. As children in the 1940s, Judy and Joyce are inseparable until Judy, who is nonverbal and has Down syndrome, is sent to a special school. Years later, Judy moves in with Joyce and attends the Creative Growth Art Studio, where she begins making colorful wrapped and woven, cocoon-like artworks.All readersLexile Text Measure AD810LFountas & Pinnell Text Level TView book details