Speak Up, Santiago!Julio Anta, illustrated by Gabi MendezSantiago leaves New York City to spend the summer with his abuela in Hillside Valley and improve his Spanish. He hopes to play soccer with new friends, but his lack of fluency leaves him feeling excluded in the local Latine community. Worried that he is a “fake” Colombian, Santi struggles with his emotions. His reactions put pressure on his relationships with friends and family as he works through language, belonging, and Colombian identity.All readersLexile Text Measure GN390LFountas & Pinnell Text Level WView book detailsTexas Bluebonnet Award Master List 2026–2027
The 2026 through 2027 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.
Texas Bluebonnet Award 2026–2027 Current ListSee the original list
Selections20
Published byTexas Library Association
SectionsAll readers
All readers
20 selections
Speak Up, Santiago!Julio Anta, illustrated by Gabi MendezSantiago leaves New York City to spend the summer with his abuela in Hillside Valley and improve his Spanish. He hopes to play soccer with new friends, but his lack of fluency leaves him feeling excluded in the local Latine community. Worried that he is a “fake” Colombian, Santi struggles with his emotions. His reactions put pressure on his relationships with friends and family as he works through language, belonging, and Colombian identity.All readersLexile Text Measure GN390LFountas & Pinnell Text Level WView book details
Pocket BearKatherine ApplegateNarrated by Zephyrina, an alley cat, this novel begins when she rescues an old teddy bear from a dumpster and brings him to Second Chances, a home where discarded toys are cleaned, repaired, and given a place to belong. Dasha, a Ukrainian refugee, runs the effort with her mother. The bear, named Berwon, meets Pocket, a tiny bear once sewn for a World War I soldier. When an antique dealer tries to obtain Berwon through deceit, Zephyrina steps in to help him again.All readersATOS Book Level 3.9AR Interest Level MG 4–8View book details
The Invisible ParadeLeigh Bardugo, illustrated by John PicacioOn Día de Muertos, Cala is grieving her grandfather’s death when she encounters a magical parade and mysterious riders. Her journey brings her from sadness toward accepting that death is part of life. Family memories, love, and courage shape this picture-book story, whose illustrations move from a monochrome emotional landscape into bright jewel tones.All readersATOS Book Level 3.9AR Interest Level LG K–3View book details
The Library of Unruly TreasuresJeanne Birdsall, illustrated by Matt PhelanGwen MacKinnon stays with an uncle she has not previously known and uncovers small winged beings connected to her family’s past. At the children’s room of a library bearing her family name, she finds the Lahdukan. Their home is in danger, so Gwen helps move them elsewhere. The task echoes the work of earlier MacKinnon women and leads Gwen toward a sense of purpose and home.All readersATOS Book Level 4.8AR Interest Level MG 4–8View book details
Danilo Was HereTamika BurgessSet in Panamá during the 1989 U.S. invasion, this novel follows Danilo, a talented young baseball player. The invasion destroys his neighborhood and leaves him weighing family responsibilities against his own hopes. His ability on the field offers him a chance to travel to California, where he hopes to look for his absent father. Danilo must decide how to respond when his dreams and family needs pull him in different directions.All readersATOS Book Level 5.0AR Interest Level MGView book details
Introducing SandwinaVicki Conrad, illustrated by Jeremy HolmesThis picture-book biography follows Katie Brumbach as she becomes known as Sandwina, a circus strongwoman. She has performed with her family since age two and later challenges Eugen Sandow in a weightlifting contest. After lifting hundreds of pounds above her head, more than Sandow can raise, she takes the name Sandwina and builds a circus career.All readersLexile Text Measure 620LView book details
The Black MambasKelly CrullThis true story introduces the Black Mambas, twenty women in camouflage uniforms who became South Africa’s first female park rangers and the world’s first women-led anti-poaching unit. Many grew up in villages near the Olifants West Nature Reserve but had not seen the animals protected there. The rangers patrol the reserve unarmed, look for evidence of poachers, and help safeguard rhinos, pangolins, and other wildlife. Their positions offer a way to support their families, despite objections to women doing work seen as dangerous. Training and patrols also build a sisterhood among the rangers.All readersLexile Text Measure 720LATOS Book Level 4.6View book details
Gabby Torres Gets a Billion FollowersAngela DominguezFourth-grader Gabby wants to create a social-media profile for her club, despite her parents’ warnings about being online. When someone leaves a cruel comment on one of the posts, Gabby becomes consumed with figuring out who the anonymous commenter might be. Her effort to promote the club turns into a struggle with online cruelty and the consequences of trying to handle the problem on her own.All readersLexile Text Measure 490LATOS Book Level 3.5View book details
Mixed-UpKami Garcia, illustrated by Brittney WilliamsStella begins fifth grade looking forward to it, but starts having trouble reading. Her difficulties at school and with a game that relies heavily on text lead to a dyslexia diagnosis. As she manages these changes, peers and adults offer support. Presented as a graphic novel, the story follows Stella’s school challenges and the help she receives after understanding why reading has become difficult.All readersLexile Text Measure 390LWord Count 6215View book details
Wanda Hears the StarsAmy S. Hansen, Wanda Díaz Merced, illustrated by Rocío Arreola MendozaThis picture-book biography follows astrophysicist Wanda Díaz Merced from her childhood in Puerto Rico to her study of physics. After diabetes causes her vision to deteriorate and she becomes blind, she finds a new way to continue her work: listening to sonified astronomical data. The book shows how she uses sound to analyze radio waves from space.All readersLexile Text Measure 540LFountas & Pinnell Text Level NView book details
I’m a Dumbo Octopus!Anne LambeletGrimpy introduces several kinds of cephalopods, including cuttlefish, nautiluses, octopuses, and squids. The graphic-novel format explains what distinguishes these ocean animals, including the adaptations that help define each group. It also compares their shared traits and differences and considers the parts cephalopods play in ocean life. Light humor accompanies the factual material, including the fact that an octopus has nine brains.All readersATOS Book Level 3.9AR Points 0.5View book details
Saved by the SmellJarrett Lerner, illustrated by Jarrett LernerAri’s ordinary routines include school, video games, and caring for his turtle, Fred, but his mother is a scientist whose inventions regularly affect life at home. One experiment involves a portal through time and a huge pile of dirty clothes. Ari is buried in the laundry, and the family ends up in a prehistoric predicament. This illustrated chapter book begins the My Mad Scientist Mom series.All readersFountas & Pinnell Text Level PView book details
The Trouble with HeroesKate MessnerThirteen-year-old Finn Connolly damages a cemetery gravestone and is assigned an unusual punishment: complete all forty-six Adirondack High Peaks during one summer. He hikes with the dog belonging to the woman whose stone he knocked down. The demanding trip is also tied to a poetry assignment about heroes, a word often applied to Finn’s late father, who worked as a firefighter and paramedic. Told in free verse, the novel follows Finn as he faces the mountain challenge and works through grief and trauma connected with his father’s death.All readersATOS Book Level 5.1AR Interest Level MG 4–8View book details
Gracie under the WavesLinda Sue ParkSixth grader Gracie hopes to snorkel during a family trip to Roatán, Honduras, home to a marine park. A coral cut leaves her with an infection that keeps her out of the water, while resentment toward her younger brother complicates her disappointment. Her new friend Alina introduces her to people working to protect and regrow coral at the park, where Gracie confronts a threatened reef.All readersATOS Book Level 4.7AR Interest Level MG 4–8View book details
Safe CrossingKari Percival, illustrated by Kari PercivalDuring spring rains and seasonal migrations, people help frogs, salamanders, and other amphibians get across roads on their way to summer habitat. The book follows citizen scientists who assist the animals and work with local government on a wildlife tunnel. It connects small acts of care with protecting migrating wildlife.All readersLexile Text Measure 620LView book details
Will’s Race for HomeJewell Parker RhodesAfter years of sharecropping in Texas, Will and his father join the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush, hoping to claim land of their own. Traveling with supplies in a mule-drawn wagon, they face dangerous terrain, thieves, and a snake that threatens their mule, Belle. On the journey, Will meets Caesar, a Black traveler and Union soldier who helps defend their supplies, while a Confederate soldier tracks Caesar.All readersView book details
AnotherPaul TremblayCasey Wilson does not know who will be arriving when his parents tell him that a friend is coming for a sleepover. The visitor, Morel, becomes an unsettling presence in Casey’s life. As the sleepover guest turns his world frightening, Casey appears to be displaced within his own family. This horror novel centers on a disturbing friendship, an inhuman impostor, and the nightmares that follow.All readersATOS Book Level 5.9AR Interest Level MG 4–8View book details
Fowl PlayKristin O’Donnell TubbAt the reading of her late Uncle Will’s will, Chloe Alvarez inherits Charlie, his African grey parrot. Uncle Will had been Chloe’s best friend, and her memories of him return in snapshots. Charlie has an extensive vocabulary, but begins saying unsettling words including “murder,” “homicide,” and “cyanide.” Chloe follows the parrot’s unusual speech into an investigation of her uncle’s death.All readersLexile Text Measure 631LATOS Book Level 4.1View book details
LolaKarla Arenas ValentiLola, a ten-year-old girl whose Mexico City home is magical, sets out to find a cure for her ill brother. Her search takes her into Floresta, a concealed realm where a powerful queen awaits. This fantasy story follows Lola’s journey through a hidden world as she tries to help her brother.All readersATOS Book Level 4.8AR Interest Level MG 4–8View book details
A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry HallJasmine WargaA painting vanishes from a museum, and Rami sees a floating girl who looks like its subject. With his classmate Veda and Agatha, a turtle watching from the garden, he investigates the theft. The clues are present throughout the museum, but Rami and Veda must be brave enough to notice them and work out the mystery surrounding the missing artwork.All readersATOS Book Level 4.1AR Interest Level MG 4–8View book details