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January 6, 2014 by Travis Jonker

Library Tales: Traction

January 6, 2014 by Travis Jonker   9 comments

A couple years back, there was a student who was pretty overdue with his book. It was Hulk: The Incredible Guide – this oversized, heavy, square-shaped book that explains everything in the Hulk-verse.

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Often, students will offer some explanation for the whereabouts of a long-overdue book. But Hulk: The Incredible Guide had been gone for months and this student hadn’t said a word.

So when the student came in with his class for book checkout, I was curious. It was a popular book that other kids were looking for. So I asked about it.

Student: It’s gone.

Me: What do you mean?

Student: It’s gone.

[Pause]

Student: My mom used it for traction.

Me: Traction?

Student: Yeah.

Me: What do you mean?

Student: We slid off the road into a snowbank and had to use it for traction.

Me: You put it under the wheel to get unstuck?

Student: Yeah. Traction.

Me: Did it work?

Student: Yeah.

And with that, we wiped the student’s slate clean. He needed the book way more than we did.

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About Travis Jonker

Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.

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Comments

  1. Mary Ann Scheuer says

    January 6, 2014 at 1:40 am

    We had the same gigantic book at our school library! It bit the dust, too — but nearly in such a dramatic way. Love this story. We all need books, just in different ways at different times.

  2. PragmaticMom says

    January 6, 2014 at 7:27 am

    The Incredible Hulk himself would be proud! Seems like the right book at the right time. Glad your student and his mom ended up ok!

  3. Carrie Gelson @There's a Book for That says

    January 6, 2014 at 9:39 am

    That is seriously funny. Thank you for my morning smile.

  4. Mike Lewis says

    January 6, 2014 at 11:01 am

    I’m sure the kid was psyched that you appreciated his situation.

  5. Rebecca Zarazan Dunn says

    January 6, 2014 at 11:58 am

    A true Michigander…
    Well done boy’s mom!
    And kuddos to his librarians for clearing the fine!

  6. Craig Seasholes says

    January 7, 2014 at 8:37 am

    A “read alike” suggestion, if you library is considering purchasing replacements: you might consider Mini Grey’s Traction Man series. 🙂

    • Travis Jonker says

      January 7, 2014 at 10:07 am

      Ha!

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