No Shelf Control!

Grades 4-6 Book Club

Action, adventure, international espionage, nuclear weapons, & a team of teenagers working for the British Secret Service are the basis of James Ponti's "City Spies: Forbidden City" for this month!

When the British Secret Intelligence Service (known as MI6, the equivalent of the U.S.'s CIA) needs special help for a dangerous mission, they call on the City Spies, a team of five highly skilled undercover agents between the ages of 12-15! Paris, Kat, Brookyln, Rio and Sydney star in Forbidden City, this installment of James Ponti's City Spies series, trying to stop a rogue international organization from gaining access to nuclear technology--while on summer vacation from school. All students in grades 4-6, or reading at this level, are welcome to join us for No Shelf Control in this, our final meeting of the 2025-2026 school year. Even if you've never come before, give it a try!

You can borrow a copy of "City Spies: Forbidden City" by James Ponti, 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 June meeting of No Shelf Control. The book is also available in electronic format through the library’s free subscription to the Libby app (or online at mcplmd.overdrive.com) as an e-book or e-audiobook (it is not currently available through Hoopla). 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.

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

Accommodation Requests

To request an accommodation, contact the library branch where you want the accommodation. If they are unable to help, or if you need an accommodation for an online resource or event, complete our Accommodation Request Form online or call Library Administration at 240-777-0002.

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