Chapter One with HPL

Twelve-year-old Teddy investigates when a popular Texas zoo's star attraction--Henry the hippopotamus--is murdered. This title is intended for tweens and is suitable for most audiences. Recorded with permission of Simon & Schuster. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

Sawkill Rock is a small island with a dark secret; girls have disappeared for years, victims of shadowy evil hunting without a fight. Until now. This title is intended for teens, however, it may contain language or themes that some readers may find offensive. Recorded with permission of Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice's life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice's grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get. This title is intended for teens, however, it may contain language or themes that some readers may find offensive. Recorded with permission of Flatiron, an imprint of Macmillan. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

After researching Glenn Burke, the first major league baseball player to come out as gay, sixth-grader Silas Wade slowly comes out to his best friend Zoey, then his coach, with unexpected consequences. This title is intended for tweens and is suitable for most audiences. Recorded with permission of Macmillan. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog. 

Hazel knows a lot about the world. That's because when she's not hanging with her best friend, taking care of her dog, or helping care for the goats on her family's farm, she loves reading through dusty encyclopedias. But even Hazel doesn't have answers for the questions awaiting her as she enters eighth grade! This title is intended for tweens and is suitable for most audiences. Recorded with permission of HarperCollins. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

Lara Jean didn't expect to really fall for Peter; they were just pretending after all. Except suddenly they weren't. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever and the situation becomes more complicated when a boy from her past returns to her life, and her feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at the same time? This title is intended for teens, however, it may contain language or themes that some readers may find offensive. Recorded with permission of Simon & Schuster. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

Bullied at school, eighth-grader Apple, a Filipino American who loves the music of the Beatles, decides to change her life by learning how to play the guitar. This title is intended for tweens and is suitable for most audiences. Recorded with permission of Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

A local tech company is hosting a weekend-long survivalist competition with a huge cash prize. If the two team up-- and win-- It could solve all of Nate's problems, and Kate wants the money to escape her controlling father. Told in two voices, this novel follows Nate Jae-Woo Kim and Kate Anderson as they team up hoping to win the competition and the prize money. Sure, survival is important, but the real challenge? Making it through the weekend with their hearts intact. This title is intended for teens, however, it may contain language or themes that some readers may find offensive. Recorded with permission of Sourcebooks. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

Sent with her mother to the safety of a relative's home in Cincinnati when her Syrian hometown is overshadowed by violence, Jude worries for the family members who were left behind as she adjusts to a new life with unexpected surprises. This title is intended for tweens and is suitable for most audiences. Recorded with permission of Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

They're called parachutes: teenagers dropped off to live in private homes and study in the US while their wealthy parents remain in Asia. Claire Wang never thought she'd be one of them, until her parents pluck her from her privileged life in Shanghai and enroll her at a high school in California... This title is intended for teens, however, it may contain language or themes that some readers may find offensive. Recorded with permission of Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.