|
2016-17 HISD "Name That Book" High School Book List
|
"The Name That Book contest, coordinated by the HISD Department of Library Services, serves to acquaint HISD students with classic literature as well as contemporary award-winning books, representing a variety of genres. The district-wide competition is held in the spring. “It is wonderful to have a place at school to exchange ideas and discuss incredible books with other students. The books on the Name That Book list really provide something for everyone. They are thought-provoking and challenging, and I have fallen in love with some great books I probably wouldn’t have read if it hadn’t been for Name That Book. I have also made friends that I probably wouldn’t have made if not for Name That Book!” -senior student, High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and a member of 2009 1st place high school team."
|
|
|
|
The Young Elites
by Marie Lu
Scarred and cast out after surviving the blood plague, Adelina finds a place for herself among the Young Elites who use their magical powers to advocate on behalf of young innocents and who are targeted by the white-robed soldiers of the Inquisition Axis. By the best-selling author of the Legend series.
|
|
|
In real life
by Cory Doctorow
Immersing herself in an online role-playing game where she enjoys fantasy heroics, Anda confronts a difficult choice when she befriends a disadvantaged Chinese kid who works illegally to collect valuable objects and sell them to other players for real money.
|
|
|
Mosquitoland
by David Arnold
When she learns that her mother is sick in Ohio, Mim confronts her demons on a thousand-mile odyssey from Mississippi that redefines her notions of love, loyalty, and what it means to be sane
|
|
|
Silent alarm
by Jennifer Banash
Alys' everyday world of school assignments, violin lessons and time spent with friends is shattered when her brother inexplicably brings a gun to school and kills several classmates and teachers before committing suicide.
|
|
|
Laughing at My Nightmare
by Shane Burcaw
"With acerbic wit and a hilarious voice, Shane Burcaw describes the challenges he faces as a twenty-one-year-old with spinal muscular atrophy. From awkward handshakes to having a girlfriend and everything in between, Shane handles his situation with humor and a "you-only-live-once" perspective on life. While he does talk about everyday issues that are relatable to teens, he also offers an eye-opening perspective on what it is like to have a life threatening disease"
|
|
|
The girl from the well
by Rin Chupeco
Okiku has wandered the world for centuries, freeing innocent ghosts and taking the lives of killers, but when she meets Tark she knows the moody teen is not a monster and needs to be freed from the demon that clings to him
|
|
|
I'll Meet You There
by Heather Demetrios
Seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans yearns to escape Creek View by attending art school, but after her mother's job loss puts her dream at risk, a rekindled friendship with Josh, who joined the Marines to get away then lost a leg in Afghanistan, and her job at the Paradise motel lead her to appreciate her home town. Simultaneous eBook.
|
|
|
Boys don't knit (in public)
by Tom Easton
After a brush with the law, Ben, a worrier, must take up a new hobby and chooses knitting, an activity at which he excels but must try to keep secret from his friends, enemies, and sports-obsessed father
|
|
|
Read Between the Lines
by Jo Knowles
Thanks to a bully in gym class, unpopular Nate suffers a broken finger -- the middle one, splinted to flip off the world. It won't be the last time a middle finger is raised on this day. Dreamer Claire envisions herself sitting in an artsy café, filling a journal, but fate has other plans. One cheerleader dates a closeted basketball star; another questions just how, as a "big girl," she fits in. A group of boys scam drivers for beer money without remorse -- or so it seems. Over the course of a single day, these voices and others speak loud and clear about the complex dance that is life in a small town. They resonate in a gritty and unflinching portrayal of a day like any other, with ordinary traumas, heartbreak, and revenge. But on any given day, the line where presentation and perception meet is a tenuous one, so hard to discern. Unless, of course, one looks a little closer -- and reads between the lines.
|
|
|
There will be lies
by Nick Lake
Shelby Cooper, nearly eighteen, has been overprotected by her single mother all her life but after a car accident, Shelby's life is transformed not only by the discovery of secrets about herself, but also by trips into "The Dreaming," where she is sent on a heroic quest wrapped in Native American mythology.
|
|
|
Like no other
by Una LaMarche
Living on opposite sides of their Brooklyn neighborhood, strict Hasidic Devorah and fun-loving nerd Jaxon forge an unexpected connection when they become trapped in an elevator during a hurricane, after which they pursue a secret romance.
|
|
|
The tragic age : a novel
by Steve Metcalfe
This is the story of Billy Kinsey, heir to a lottery fortune, part genius, part philosopher and social critic, full time insomniac and closeted rock drummer. Billy has decided that the best way to deal with an absurd world is to stay away from it. Do not volunteer. Do not join in. Billy will be the first to tell you it doesn't always work-- not when your twin sister, Dorie, has died, not when your unhappy parents are at war with one another, not when frazzled soccer moms in two ton SUVs are more dangerous than atom bombs, and not when your guidance counselor keeps asking why you haven't applied to college. Billy's life changes when two people enter his life. Twom Twomey is a charismatic renegade who believes that truly living means going a little outlaw. Twom and Billy become one another's mutual benefactor and friend. At the same time, Billy is reintroduced to Gretchen Quinn, an old and adored friend of Dorie's. It is Gretchen who suggests to Billy that the world can be transformed by creative acts of the soul. With Twom, Billy visits the dark side. And with Gretchen, Billy experiences possibilities. Billy knows that one path is leading him toward disaster and the other toward happiness. The problem is--Billy doesn't trust happiness. It's the age he's at. The tragic age.
|
|
|
The Boy in the Black Suit
by Jason Reynolds
Working in the local funeral home to support his family after his mother's death and his father's descent into alcoholism, Matt falls in love with a tough girl who never cries and who understands his loneliness. By the author of When I Was the Greatest.
|
|
|
An ember in the ashes
by Sabaa Tahir
"Laia is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire's greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim that they will help to save her brother from execution"
|
|
|
Salt to the Sea : a novel
by Ruta Sepetys
Frantically racing to freedom with thousands of other refugees as Russian forces close in on their homes in East Prussia, Joana, Emilia and Florian meet aboard the doomed Wilhelm Gustloff and are forced to trust each other in order to survive. By the award-winning author of Out of the Easy.
|
|
|
Tree Girl
by Ben Mikaelsen
While high up in a tree, a sixteen-year-old Guatemalan girl gets a clear view of the ravages of war as guerilla warfare takes place just beneath her, forever changing how she sees the world. Reprint.
|
|
|
Night
by Elie Wiesel
The narrative of a boy who lived through Auschwitz and Buchenwald provides a short and terrible indictment of modern humanity
|
|
|
Two boys kissing
by David Levithan
A chorus of men who have died of AIDS observes and yearns to help a cross-section of today's gay teens who navigate new love, long-term relationships, coming out, self-acceptance and more in a society that has changed in many ways. By the author of Boy Meets Boy.
|
|
|
The opposite of loneliness : essays and stories
by Marina Keegan
A collection of essays and stories from a Yale graduate who died tragically five days after graduation details the struggles that people face as they figure out what they want to be and how they can positively impact the world
|
|
|
The game of Love and Death
by Martha Brockenbrough
Growing up a few blocks away from each other in 1920s Seattle, African-American teen Flora and white boy Henry forge a deep bond over their shared love of jazz music, unaware that their taboo relationship is being manipulated by eternal adversaries, Love and Death.
|
|
|
The bunker diary
by Kevin Brooks
Linus Weems, a street person since leaving his father's home, is kidnapped and taken to an underground bunker where he is soon joined by five others, who are alternately cared for and tortured by their unseen captor.
|
|
|
Dime
by E. R Frank
An awareness-raising tale about the realities of teen prostitution follows the experiences of a foster child whose host family requires her to earn her keep in dark and dangerous ways. By the award-winning author of Life Is Funny.
|
|
|
Dumplin'
by Julie Murphy
Questioning her plus-sized body for the first time when an athletic boy appears to return her affections, Willowdean enters her city's beauty pageant and uses her sassy styles and talents to compete against thinner contestants.
|
|
|
All the bright places
by Jennifer Niven
Meeting on the ledge of their school's bell tower, misfit Theodore Finch and suicidal Violet Markey find acceptance and healing that are overshadowed by Finch's fears about Violet's growing social world. A first young adult novel by the author of American Blonde.
|
|
|
The sacred lies of Minnow Bly
by Stephanie Oakes
Losing everything including her family, her hands and her ability to trust after spending 12 years in a cult, a traumatized Minnow struggles to find her voice in juvenile detention in the aftermath of her leader's death.
|
|
|
Out of darkness
by Ashley Hope Pérez
Loosely based on a school explosion that took place in New London, Texas, in 1937, this is the story of two teenagers: Naomi, who is Mexican, and Wash, who is black, and their dealings with race, segregation, love, and the forces that destroy people.
|
|
|
Gabi, a girl in pieces
by Isabel Quintero
Sixteen-year-old Gabi Hernandez chronicles her senior year in high school as she copes with her friend Cindy's pregnancy, friend Sebastian's coming out, her father's meth habit, her own cravings for food and cute boys, and especially, the poetry that helps forge her identity
|
|
|
|
|
|