On Hold @ The Library: November 2011

When you think about it, it’s pretty rare that kids get free choice. Parents, money, The Man – so many roadblocks. Not so at the school library. What you see below are the actual books on hold by students in the 5th and 6th grade school where I work.

What’s on your hold shelf? Be you school, public, or some other kind of librarian that has a hold shelf, I encourage you to share it using the new fancy (in the same way that fast food ketchup is labeled “fancy”) link tool at the bottom of this post. You can…

• Post a picture of your hold shelf on your site and share the url using the link tool below. By the way, it looks like this:

• Post a picture of your shelf to Twitter and include @100scopenotes somewhere in the tweet. I’ll gather up any that come in and add them to the bottom of this post.

• Email me (scopenotes (at) gmail (dot) com) and I’ll add it to the bottom of this post.

On to the goods…

Ghost in the Machine by Patrick Carman
This sequel to Skeleton Creek (a book I quite liked) was already popular. Then a teacher read Skeleton Creek to her class and it’s been impossible to find on the shelf since. I need to pick up another copy or two.

The Crossbones by Patrick Carman
Which brings us to this, a newer spooky book/video mashup by Patrick Carman.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
One of the more love it or hate it books of the 21st (or any) century, plenty of students at my school are proud members of Camp Love It. This is a book that has always circulated well.

The Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow
Did I never review this? It’s a great graphic novel. And a stealth hit. Now that there’s a sequel and a third installment out, the fan base will only grow.

The Frog Princess by E. D. Baker
I love checking out the holds shelf for books like this. I didn’t know this one was seeing an increase in popularity until now.

Hot Hand by Mike Lupica
Kids like sports fiction, but it seems the market has been pretty saturated lately. I’ve been noticing more of the Mike Lupica titles hanging out on the shelf for longer periods of time. Not so with this book in his Comeback Kids series.

Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton
This autobiography from 13 year old surfer and shark attack survivor is always checked out. The 2011 movie adaptation gave it a boost, but it was already making the rounds pretty well.

The Last Olympian, The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
What can be said here? Percy Jackson keeps on chugging.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney
No holds shelf list would be complete without a Wimpy Kid. The latest installment, unsurprisingly, has a wait list. And rightfully so – it’s hilariously up to par with the rest of the series.

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
I was a bit surprised to find his first book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy on the hold shelf. It’s always circulated well, but to have kids lining up to read it is a pleasant surprise.

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