Real kids, real books. That’s the gist of this look back at the most popular books in our school libraries this year. Today we round things out with the titles floating boats for 5th and 6th graders.

Previously…

Top 10 Circulated Books of 2013: K-2nd Grade

Top 10 Circulated Books of 2013: 3rd-4th Grade

10. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz; illustrated by Stephen Gammell

If you see Alvin Schwartz (in the afterlife) shake his hand for me, will you? Or tell him to visit my library in ghost form so I can do it myself. The guy (along with the sizable artistic contribution of Stephen Gammell) created a book that sits in the School Library Checkout Hall of Fame.

9. The Cloud Searchers (Amulet, Book 3) by Kazu Kibuishi

Warning: you will see more Amulet. We get a ton of “do you have Amulet #x?” questions from students – a sure sign of massive popularity.

8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney

There’s bound to be a recent Wimpy Kid on this list, and Cabin Fever is the book to do it. While it’s the only book in the series to appear, the other books are by no means shelf-sitters – they’re all going out at a brisk clip.

7. The Last Council (Amulet, Book 4) by Kazu Kibuishi

Warning: you will see even more Amulet. This series continues to dominate our graphic novel section, picking up new readers all the time.

6. Big Nate: From the Top by Lincoln Peirce

In terms of checkouts, I’ve heard mixed results when it comes to Big Nate. Even within out district, some schools don’t see a high level of demand. Not a problem here though.

5. Guinness World Records: To the Extreme

Question: aren’t all world records extreme? Anyway, World Record books seem to do the thing you wish every book could do – maintain popularity regardless of when it was published. Our 2000 Guinness goes out just about as much as the 2013. This book came out in aught seven, but no matter.

4. The Stonekeeper’s Curse (Amulet, Book 2) by Kazu Kibuishi

Warning: you will see Amulet again.

3. Crown of Horns (Bone, Book 9) by Jeff Smith

I expected to see a bit more Bone on this list (a series that also has been inducted into The Checkout Hall of Fame), but Crown of Horns is the lone Top 10-er.

2. The Stonekeeper (Amulet, Book 1) by Kazu Kibuishi

And we get to the first book in the series. This is not uncommon – when a series catches on in a big way, it always seems like the most demand is for #1. I’m going to go out on the world’s shortest limb and say I think this crowd will approve of Amulet creator Kazu Kibuishi’s new Harry Potter covers as well.

1. The World Encyclopedia of Cars by Martin Buckley and Chris Rees

Whoa – whoever laid their bet down that this book would be #1 can now come to the window and collect one million card catalog cards. I see this out all the time, but didn’t think it would land here. And it’s out of print! And, apparently, going for $170 bucks on the used market. Who knew?