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Students have fun reading books from the current Lone Star Book
List and complete written responses to receive prizes.
Lone Star Reading Contest Prizes
1 book – Name on readers board and a fun pen
5 books – Certificate and fun grab bag
10 books – Book from book fair
15 books – Gift card
20 books – Trophy and more
2008-2009 Lone Star Reading List
Berryhill, Shane. Chance Fortune and the Outlaws. Starscape, 2006. ISBN-
13: 978-0-
7653-1468-0 (publisher’s hardcover).
Even though he seems to have no superhero powers, Chance is accepted into
the
school of his dreams, the Burlington Academy for the Superhuman, where he
uses his
skills to help his team and battle the forces of Evil.
Try These Too:
The Awakening, Michael Owen Carroll
Demonkeeper, Royce Buckingham
PS 238, Aaron Williams
True Talents, David Lubar
Bryant, Jen. Pieces of Georgia: A Novel. Knopf, 2006. ISBN-13: 978-0-375-
93259-5
(publisher’s hardcover). ISBN-13: 978-0-440-42055-2 (paperback).
In journal entries to her mother, a gifted artist who died suddenly,
thirteen-year-old
Georgia McCoy reveals how her life changes after she receives an anonymous
gift
membership to a nearby art museum.
Try These Too:
Runaway, Wendelin Van Draanen
Sand Dollar Summer, Kimberly Jones
Way Down Deep, Ruth White
Flinn, Alex. Beastly. HarperTeen, 2007. ISBN-13: 978-0-06-087416-2
(publisher’s
hardcover). ISBN-13: 978-0-06-087417-9 (library binding).
Kyle Kingsbury has everything going for him - money, good looks, and charm -
until the
day he mocks the wrong girl (a witch in disguise) who transforms him into a
terrifying
beast. Kyle has two years to find true love before he becomes a monster
forever in this
very modern retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast story.
Try These Too:
Beast, Donna Jo Napoli
East, Edith Pattou
Fairest, Gail Carson Levine
The Princess and the Hound, Mettie Ivie Harrison
Tattoo, Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Hale, Marian. Dark Water Rising. Holt, 2006. ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-7585-4
(publisher’s hardcover).
Almost 8000 people died when a hurricane struck the Galveston coast in
1900.
Sixteen-year old Seth survived the storm, found his way home and discovered
his
talents and strengths while helping to rebuild the island.
Try These Too:
Death Mountain, Sherry Shahan
Hurricane force: In the Path of America's Deadliest Storms, Joseph B.
Treaster
The Killing Sea, Richard Lewis
Life as We Knew It, Susan Beth Pfeffer
Halls, Kelly Milner. Tales of the Cryptids: Mysterious Creatures That May
or May Not
Exist. Darby Creek, 2006. ISBN-13: 978-1-58196-049-5 (publisher’s
hardcover).
Get the scientific facts about Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, Chupacabra,
the
Mongolian Death Worm, and 50 other legendary creatures, and find out what is
true,
what is myth, and what just isn’t known (yet).
Try These Too:
Cryptid Hunters, Roland Smith
Death Collector, Justin Richards
Oh Rats! The Story of Rats and People, Albert Marrin
Unexplained, Judy Allen
Harper, Suzanne. The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney. Greenwillow, 2007.
ISBN-13:
978-0-06-113158-5 (publisher’s hardcover). ISBN-13: 978-0-06-113159-2
(library
binding).
Sparrow is the 7th and most powerful daughter in a family of psychics, but
she wants
nothing to do with her powers until a persistent ghost convinces her to help
him out.
Try These Too:
Ghosts I Have Been, Richard Peck
Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator, Jennifer Allison
Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos, R.L. La Fevers
Haydon, Elizabeth. The Floating Island: The Lost Journals of Ven
Polypheme.
Starscape, 2006. ISBN-13: 978-0-7653-0867-2 (publisher’s hardcover).
Attacked by pirates and saved by a mermaid, Ven’s amazing adventures include
a
talking cat, ghosts, and a quest for the magical waters of the mysterious
floating island.
Try These Too;
Airborn, Kenneth Oppel
Changeling, Delia Sherman
Foundling, D.M. Cornish
The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio, Lloyd Alexander
Holm, Jennifer L. Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf: A Year Told
Through Stuff.
Atheneum, 2007. ISBN-13: 978-0-689-85281-7 (publisher’s hardcover).
Ginny is ready for seventh grade. If she can just complete the ten items on
her to-do
list, everything will be perfect. But life gets in the way as she deals
with family issues,
problems with friends, and mishaps at school. What was supposed to be her
greatest
year is turning into the worst year ever!
Try These Too:
The Actual Real Reality of Jennifer James, Gillian Shields
Right-Under Club, Christine Hurley Deriso
The Very Ordered Existence of Merilee Marvelous, Suzanne Crowley
Korman, Gordon. Schooled. Hyperion, 2007. ISBN-13: 978-0-7868-5692-3
(publisher’s hardcover).
Cap lives in isolation with his grandmother, a former hippie, but when she
falls from a
tree and breaks her hip, Cap is sent to a foster home where he has his first
experience
in a public school.
Try These Too:
How Ya Like Me Now, Brendan Halpin
No More Dead Dogs, Gordon Korman
Stargirl, Jerry Spinelli
Kostick, Conor. Epic. Viking, 2007. ISBN-13: 978-0-670-06179-2
(publisher’s
hardcover).
On New Earth, a world based on a video role-playing game, fourteen-year-old
Erik
persuades his friends to challenge the system in order to save his father
from exile and
safeguard the futures of each of their families.
Try These Too:
Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
The Game of Sunken Places, M.T. Anderson
Head Games, Mariah Fredericks
Heir Apparent, Vivian Vande Velde
Invitation to the Game, Monica Hughes
Lurie, April. Brothers, Boyfriends, & Other Criminal Minds. Delacorte,
2007. ISBN-13:
978-0-385-73124-9 (publisher’s hardcover). ISBN-13: 978-0-385-90152-9
(library
binding).
April Lundquist’s life has suddenly become very exciting. She lives on a
street full of
mafia bosses and accidentally becomes employed by Salvatore "Soft Sal"
Luciano
while her older brother Matt is secretly seeing another mobster’s daughter.
April and
her friend Brandi do all they can to save the sometimes annoying, yet over-
protective
Matt from his impending doom amidst their own hilarious boyfriend problems.
Try These Too:
Al Capone Does My Shirts, Gennifer Choldenko
All American Girl, Meg Cabot
Son of the Mob, Gordon Korman
McNish, Cliff. Breathe: A Ghost Story. Carolrhoda, 2006. ISBN-13: 978-0-
8225-6443-
0 (publisher’s hardcover).
Jack is no stranger to death – he’s been close before when his asthma
threatened to
overpower him. When he and his mother move into an old farmhouse, Jack
actually
begins to see the spirits of the Ghost Mother and the four ghost children
she is
terrorizing. As the Ghost Mother decides she wants a real child to love,
Jack is drawn
into a struggle with the Other World to save not only his life and his
mother’s, but also
to reunite the ghost children’s souls with their loved ones.
Try These Too:
Everlost, Neal Shusterman
Jade Green, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
The Presence, Eve Bunting
Werewolf Rising, R.L. La Fevers
Resau, Laura. What the Moon Saw: A Novel. Delacorte, 2006. ISBN-13: 978-
0-385-
73343-4 (publisher’s hardcover). ISBN-13: 978-0-385-90360-8 (library
binding).
Fourteen-year-old Clara Luna spends the summer with her grandparents in the
tiny,
remote village of Yucuyoo, Mexico, learning about her grandmother's life as
a healer,
her father's decision to leave home for the United States, and her own place
in the
world.
Try These Too:
Chasing the Jaguar, Michele Greene
Defining Dulcie, Paul Acampora
Esperanza Rising, Pam Muñoz Ryan
Feels Like Home, e. E. Charlton-Trujillo
Salisbury, Graham. Night of the Howling Dogs. Wendy Lamb, 2007. ISBN-13:
978-0-
385-73122-5 (publisher’s hardcover). ISBN-13: 978-0-385-90146-8 (library
binding).
Eleven Boy Scouts, their leaders, and some new friends camping at Halape,
Hawaii in
1975 find their survival skills put to the test when a massive earthquake
strikes
followed by a tsunami.
Try These Too:
Alabama Moon, Watt Key
Touching Spirit Bear, Ben Mikaelsen
The Trap, John E. Smelcer
Schmidt, Gary D. The Wednesday Wars. Clarion, 2007. ISBN-13: 978-0-618-
72483-3
(publisher’s hardcover).
In a year filled with cream puff disasters, being forced to study
Shakespeare, wearing
yellow tights and the Vietnam War, Holling also meets the New York Yankees,
makes
the cross country track team and learns to stand up to his father.
Try These Too:
Edenville Owls, Robert B. Parker
The Loud Silence of Francine Green, Karen Cushman
One-Handed Catch, MJ Auch
The View from Saturday, E.L. Koningsburg
Scott, Michael. Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel.
Delacorte,
2007. ISBN-13: 978-0-385-73357-1 (publisher’s hardcover). ISBN-13: 978-0-
385-
90372-1 (library binding).
Nicholas Flamel, the greatest Alchemyst of his day, supposedly died in 1418.
In reality,
he and his wife are still alive and well today. When the book that holds the
secret to
eternal life is stolen from Flamel, twins Sophie and Josh find themselves
the subject of
a prophecy giving them the power to save the world.
Try These Too:
The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp, Rick Yancey
Harry Potter (series). J.K. Rowling
Percy Jackson and the Olympians (series), Rick Riordan
Shadow Thieves, Anne Ursu
Skulduggery Pleasant, Derek Landy
Smith, Roland. Peak. Harcourt, 2007. ISBN-13: 978-0-15-202417-8
(publisher’s
hardcover).
Peak was born to be a climber. After getting caught and then arrested for
scaling a
New York City skyscraper, 14 year-old Peak is “rescued” by his previously
absentee
father. Peak’s father has an even grander plan for Peak; he wants Peak to
be the
youngest person to climb Mount Everest, no matter what it takes to make it
happen.
Try These Too:
Everest (series), Gordon Korman
Hatchet, Gary Paulsen
Runner, Carl Deuker
Shackelton’s Stowaway, Victoria McKernan
Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083, Andrea White
Sonnenblick, Jordan. Zen and the Art of Faking It. Scholastic, 2007. ISBN-
13: 978-0-
439-83707-1 (publisher’s hardcover).
When thirteen-year-old San Lee moves to a new town and school for the
umpteenth
time, he is looking for a way to stand out when his knowledge of Zen
Buddhism,
gained in his previous school, provides the answer--and the need to quickly
become a
convincing Zen master.
Try These Too:
I am the Wallpaper, Mark Peter Hughes
If We Kiss, Rachel Vail
Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time, Lisa Yee
Stead, Rebecca. First Light. Wendy Lamb, 2007. ISBN-13: 978-0-375-94017-0
(publisher’s hardcover).
When twelve-year-old Peter and his family arrive in Greenland for his
father’s
research, he stumbles upon a secret his mother has been hiding from him all
his life
and begins an adventure he never imagined possible.
Try These Too:
City of Ember, Jeanne DuPrau
Downsiders, Neal Shusterman
White Darkness, Geraldine McCaughrean
Stewart, Trenton Lee. The Mysterious Benedict Society. Little, Brown,
2007. ISBN-
13: 978-0-316-05777-6 (publisher’s hardcover).
After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for
a secret
mission that requires them to go undercover at the Learning Institute for
the Very
Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.
Try These Too:
Chasing Vermeer, Blue Balliett
Evil Genius, Catherine Jinks
H.I.V.E.: Higher Institute of Villainous Education, Mark Walden
Shakespeare’s Secret, Elise Broach
The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin
The Texas Lone Star list is a recommended reading list developed by public
and
school librarians from the Young Adult Round Table. The purpose of the list
is to
encourage students in grades 6, 7, or 8 to explore a variety of current
books. The Lone
Star list is intended for recreational reading, not to support a specific
curriculum. Due to
the diversity of this age range, Texas librarians should purchase titles on
this list
according to their individual collection policies. Each book on the list has
been
favorably reviewed for grades 6, 7, or 8 in a professional review source.
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