No Shelf Control!

A Book Club for Grades 4-6

Calling all readers ages 9-12: No Shelf Control is the place for you! Pick up a copy of "The Island of Forgotten Gods" by Victor Pineiro ahead of time and join us for tonight's discussion.

Twelve-year-old Nico needs to escape from his feuding parents and his rejection by a New York art school. He goes to Puerto Rico to spend the summer with his grandmother and cousins there and hopefully fulfill his dream of making a fantastic documentary movie. But things take a horrific turn when they encounter the legendary chupacabra, a cult, and the gods who created the island. In addition to being an exciting fantasy/adventure story and a novel about personal transformation, Victor Pineiro's "The Island of Forgotten Gods" contains an introduction to the history, culture, and mythology of Puerto Rico, the Caribbean islands, and the Taino people who lived there for centuries before the arrival of Europeans after 1492. Fans of Rick Riordan, any of the Rick Riordan Presents series, mythology, or sci-fi/fantasy will love this book!

You can borrow a copy of "The Island of Forgotten Gods" by Victor Pineiro, 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 April meeting of No Shelf Control. The book is also available in electronic format through the library’s free electronic resources: on the Libby app or mcplmd.overdrive.com as an e-book or e-audiobook; or on the Hoopla app or hoopladigital.com as an e-book or e-audiobook. mcplmd.overdrive.com. 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