No Shelf Control!

A Book Club for Grades 4-6

No Shelf Control is a book discussion & activity group just for students age 9-12. In recognition of Black History Month, we'll read and discuss "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia.

Eleven-year-old Delphine Gaither narrates the story of the summer of 1969, when she and her sisters left their home in Brooklyn to visit their grandmother and great-grandmother in a small-town in Alabama. The girls experience the culture shock of going from the city to the country, of being Black in the American South during the Civil Rights era and getting tangled in the ups and downs of the joys and feuds within their extended family and the surrounding community. In 2011, author Rita Williams-Garcia won the Newbery Honor Award for children’s literature; the Coretta Scott King Award for best book for children about the African American experience; and the Scott O’Dell Award for historical fiction, all for the first book in the trilogy of the Gaither sisters.

You can borrow a copy of Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia, along with a specially prepared reading guide for our group, from the Connie Morella Library; just ask at either the Circulation Desk or Information Desk for the book for the January meeting of No Shelf Control. The book is also available in electronic formats from the library’s free services: on Hoopla as an e-book or e-audiobook; and on the Libby app or mcplmd.overdrive.com as an e-book or e-audiobook. If you use an electronic version, please contact librarian Jeff Coster (Jeffrey.Coster@montgomerycountymd.gov) to request a copy of the reading guide. He can also be contacted with any questions about the program and participant eligibility.

If you are in grades 4, 5 or 6 and love to read and have fun talking about books and characters, No Shelf Control is the place for you! Over the course of the school year, we’ll read books from a wide range of genres—realistic fiction, mystery, humor, science fiction, fantasy, adventure—featuring characters your age and themes such as friendship, family, overcoming adversity, confronting challenges, sorting through conflicting values, and navigating life, school, sports and other extracurricular activities, other people’s expectations, and their expanding knowledge of themselves and the world around them. We often use new books published within the last 2-3 years and acclaimed titles from such award programs as the Black-Eyed Susan. Each session’s interactive discussions and hands-on activities will relate to the major topics and themes of the book in a fun and engaging way. Each month, you can borrow a copy of the assigned book (with a specially prepared reading guide just for our group) from the Connie Morella Library. You can also access many of the titles as e-books or e-audiobooks through the library’s free app, Hoopla and Libby. 

Library Program Attendance (both virtual and in the branch) is limited to participants within the suggested age range of the program. Children attending an MCPL program under the age of 8 must be accompanied by an adult. Adults attending a program intended for children must have an accompanying child.

Don't have a card right now? Find out how to Get a Library Card.

Have questions about this program? Contact the branch at 240-777-0970, or librarian Jeff Coster at jeffrey.coster@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Accommodation Requests

People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing should request English-language captioning or sign-language interpretation at least five days before the library-sponsored program they plan to attend. Contact the Assistant Facilities and Accessibility Program Manager at 240-777-0002 with all other accommodation requests.

Upcoming Events