“A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.” -William Styron  Have you ever wondered what kind of lives the people at Emporia Middle School have been living? Well, I’m here to tell you the top 5 most checked out books at EMS. 

 The 5th most popular book checked out by EMS students is Haikyu!! by Haruichi Furudate. A small description is:  “Ever since he saw the legendary player known as ‘the Little Giant’ compete at the national volleyball finals, Shoyo Hinata has been aiming to be the best volleyball player ever! After losing his first and last volleyball match against Tobio Kageyama,Shoyo Hinata swears to become his rival after graduating middle school. But what happens when the guy he wants to defeat ends up being his teammate?!”. This book might interest you if you are into volleyball, competition, teammates, friendships, and Japanese culture. This book has a 4.62 rating on goodreads with 27,843 ratings. 

The 4th most popular book checked out by EMS students is Guts by Raina Telgemeier. A small summary is: “Raina wakes up one night with a terrible upset stomach. Her mom has one, too, so it’s probably just a bug. Raina eventually returns to school, where she’s dealing with the usual highs and lows: friends, not-friends, and classmates who think the school year is just one long gross-out session. It soon becomes clear that Raina’s tummy trouble isn’t going away… and it coincides with her worries about food, school, and changing friendships. What’s going on?” This book might interest you if you are into drama, friends, real-life teenager problems, sickness, and family. This book has a 4.35 star rating with 41,088 ratings.

The 3rd most popular story checked out is Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes. A small summary is: “Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation that’s been unleashed on his family and community in the wake of what they see as an unjust and brutal killing. Soon Jerome meets another ghost: Emmett Till, a boy from a very different time but similar circumstances.” This book might be a good fit if you like violence, ghosts, racial issues, and realistic fiction. This book has a 4.38 star rating with 23,446 ratings.  

The 2nd most checked out by EMS students is Refugee by Alan Gratz. A summary  is: “ Three different kids. One mission in common: ESCAPE.

Josef is a Jewish boy in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world…Isabel is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety and freedom in America…Mahmoud is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe…All three young people will go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. All will face unimaginable dangers–from drownings to bombings to betrayals. But for each of them, there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, surprising connections will tie their stories together in the end.” This book might be good if you like real life stories, adventure, modern world events, survival, and family. This has a 4.43 star rating with 47,587 ratings. This book most likely was higher on the list because the world studies class just recently checked them all out. 

The #1 most popular story checked out at EMS is Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. This is going to be classified as a series instead of a book because the series is super popular and if we didn’t put them together this whole story would be full of the diary of a wimpy kid. There is 16 books is the series which are, 

Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2007)

Rodrick Rules (2008)

The Last Straw (2009)

Dog Days (2009)

The Ugly Truth (2010)

Cabin Fever (2011)

The Third Wheel (2012)

Hard Luck (2013)

The Long Haul (2014)

Old School (2015)

Double Down (2016)

The Getaway (2017)

The Meltdown (2018)

Wrecking Ball (2019)

The Deep End (2020)

Big Shot (26th October 2021).  This series would be good if you like realistic books or if you have watched the movie. You can check out https://toppsta.com/books/series/6764/diary-of-a-wimpy-kid to find all of the books and review them. 

I think all of the books that were on this story are great! If you ever want to find a book beforehand go to https://search.follettsoftware.com/metasearch/ui/61718 and find the perfect book for you. That website has every book that we have in our library and where to find it. We also have computers with the website on them in our library.