Good Reads

Tayshas Reading List 2008-2009

When transfer student Jane is forced to move from the confines of Metro City to Suburbia, she thinks her life is over. But there she finds her tribe: three other girls named Jane. The four girls form a secret art gang, but can art really save the hell that is high school? Young adult. ...More

Newly arrived in New York City in 1910, Bella is desperate to send money home to her family in Italy, and becomes one of the hundreds of workers at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. But one fateful March night, a spark ignites some cloth in the factory, resulting in a fire that will become one of the worst workplace disasters in history. ...More

A tale of vengeance, true love, and cannibalism Being born undead can have its disadvantages, such as eternal youth and flawless beauty ---things most unsuitable for a witch. Hiding behind the guise of a grimy old crone, the witch is content living outside Fort Stalwart with her unlikely band of allies: a troll named Gwurm, an enchanted broom, and a demonic duck named Newt. She leads a simple life filled with spells, potions, and the occasional curse.
So when a White Knight arrives at Fort Stalwart, the witch knows her days of peace are at an end. The Knight is just days in front of a horde of ravenous goblings, and Fort Stalwart lies right in the horde's path. But the goblings are just the first wave of danger, and soon the witch and the Knight must combine forces on a perilous quest to stop a mad sorcerer from destroying the world. ...More

A richly detailed and enchanting novel, set in 20th-century Persia
Anahita, a nomad, learns that her father has promised her hand in marriage to a man she dislikes. Determined to have a say in her own fate, Anahita convinces her father to let her hold a contest, in which potential suitors must correctly answer the riddle she has woven into her wedding carpet. A diplomat, a schoolteacher, a shepherd, and a prince compete in Anahita's battle of wits, for the heart of this extraordinary girl.
Meghan Nuttall Sayres explores the art of weaving, the rhythms of nomadic life, and the beauty of the Muslim faith in this fascinating debut novel. ...More

The serenely self-assured 19th-century lawyer Sarah Woolson is still trying to get her life together when she is suddenly involved in a complicated murder plot involving ghosts, gypsies, and City Hall--all while facing off with a fellow lawyer. ...More

From the author of the enormously successful "Graffiti World" comes this spectacular follow-up, celebrating the contributions of women to contemporary graffiti and street art. Two eight-page fold-out collages, a fold-out poster jacket, and an authoritative text round out the impressive package. ...More

In this profoundly affecting memoir from the internationally renowned author of "The Caged Virgin," Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells her life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia to her intellectual awakening in the Netherlands to her life under armed guard in the West. ...More

Rachel Carson combined her love of science and writing in her awardwinning and controversial book, "Silent Spring." Revealing the dangers of pesticide use, it brought readers a new awareness of manas contamination of the environment and ultimately led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. ...More

The dazzling prequel to The Blue Sword follows the adventures of the Damarian king's daughter, Aerin, as she fights to claim both birthright and love. "Splendid high fantasy . . . superb, filled with tender moments, good characters, satisfying action and sparkling dialogue".--School Library Journal. 1984 ALA Notable Book; 1985 ALA Best Book for Young Adults; 1985 Newbery Medal Book. ...More

When Harry Crewe's father dies, she leaves her Homeland to travel east, to Istan, the last outpost of the Homelander empire, where her elder brother is stationed.

Harry is drawn to the bleak landscape of the northeast frontier, so unlike the green hills of her Homeland. The desert she stares across was once a part of the great kingdom of Damar, before the Homelanders came from over the seas. Harry wishes she might cross the sands and climb the dark mountains where no Homelander has ever set foot, where the last of the old Damarians, the Free Hillfolk, still live. She hears stories that the Free Hillfolk possess strange powers -- that they work magic -- that it is because of this that they remain free of the Homelander sway.

When the king of the Free Hillfolk comes to Istan to ask that the Homelanders and the Hillfolk set their enmity ...More

2004 Sequoyah Young Adult Winner

Inspired by a true story, this is a book about roots, the need to be loved and discovering one's true self as a group of girls bond one fateful summer. ...More

CCBC Choices - 1997
I have never doubted what I was told: "Heaven and earth are great, but greater still is the kindness of the Communist Part; father and mother are dear, but dearer still is Chairman Mao."

In 1966 Ji-li Jian was 12 years old. And oustanding student and a leader of her class, she had everything: brains, ability, the admiration of her peers-- and a shining future in Chairman Mao's New China. But all that changed with the advent of the Cultural Revolution, when intelligence became a crime and a wealthy family background invited persecution or worse. For the next few years Ji-li and her family were humilated and reviled by their former friends, neighbors and colleagues and lived in constant terror of arrest. At last, with the detention of her father, Ji-li was faced with the most dreadful decision of her life: d ...More