On Hold @ the Library: March 2012

The library hold shelf – window to the soul? Not quite (unless your soul is mainly comprised of Diary of a Wimpy Kid books), but it does tell you which books kids are truly excited about.

On Hold @ the Library is getting participatory, thanks to the brave folks who submitted photos of their hold shelves. John Schumacher of Watch. Connect. Read. and I have teamed up and will be alternating hosting duties each month.

We’re also going all high tech, with a Twitter hashtag (#holdshelf) and a Pinterest board you can check out if you’re into that sort of thing (or are, perhaps, from the future).

Let’s begin today with the hold shelf at my 5th and 6th grade school:

The contents:

Diary of a Wimpy Kid #6: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney

No introductions needed.

Half-Minute Horrors by Various

I first learned of this book a couple years back from Bookends, and it’s been popular in my library ever since we added it. Extremely short and spooky stories from a cast of excellent writers.

My Name is Mina by David Almond

This is a brand-new book to our collection and it’s cool to see that it’s already getting a lot of attention.

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

There’s a lot of genius going on in Brian Selznick’s illustrated novel. I love this book and kids are right there with me, apparently.

Guinness Book of World Records 2010

How do you know kids like their world records? This isn’t even the glossy photo-filled edition – it’s the black and white paperback edition and it’s still pulling holds.

More True Lies by George Shannon

Surprise alert! There are always a couple unexpected books that tend to show up here, and this book is one of them. Most often, these surprises are due to teacher recommendations (which is the case here).

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Special Edition 2009

In terms of sheer “must…grab…book” quality, this edition of the ever-popular Ripley’s series deserves to be in the hall of fame. Kids are drawn to this cover. The Ripley’s folks must also know this, as it seems like every cover since 2009 seems to be of a similarly tatted and pierced dude.

Small Steps by Louis Sachar

The sequel to one of my all-time favorites makes an appearance.

Ellie McDoodle: Best Friends Fur-Ever by Ruth Barshaw

This heavily-illustrated series has seen steady popularity in my 5th-6th grade library over the years. It’s not a hold shelf regular, but the books have made the rounds very nicely.

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann

You know that part in the movie High Fidelity when John Cusack’s character says “I will now sell five copies of The Three EPs by The Beta Band”?

Playing the book trailer for The Unwanteds works similar magic. Put this on for kids and watch the holds accumulate:

I Survived #4: I Survived the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941 by Lauren Tarshis

This is a new series from Scholastic that has been getting a lot of circulations. High interest historical fiction are four words that you don’t see together as much as they should be, so it’s nice to add to this niche.

Now on to your hold shelves…

(Click to enlarge photos)

John Schumacher starts us off:

Anne from so tomorrow:

Tara:

Beth:

Lindsay:

Sylvie:

Jen:

Julie:

Kathy:

Julie H.:

Maureen:

Angie:

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