Cover to Cover - A Book Club for Grades 2-3

This Month: "Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All" by Chanel Miller

2nd & 3rd Graders! Cover to Cover offers a monthly discussion & activities group just for your reading level. This month, join Magnolia Wu & her friend, Iris, for adventures around New York City!

On her tenth birthday, Magnolia Wu spends the day with her parents at the laundromat they manage in New York City. Little does she know that she is about to have the best summer ever! When she meets a new friend, Iris, the two girls become the New York Sock Detectives as they try to find the owners of all the lost socks left at the laundromat. The people they meet throughout the city all have interesting stories and the obstacles Magnolia and Iris overcome help them understand themselves, each other, and their community a lot better.

Join us for Cover to Cover on November 17 to discuss "Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All," a Black-Eyed Susan Award nominee book from 2025-2026 by author Chanel Miller. You can borrow a copy from the Circulation or Information desks at the Connie Morella Library, along with the specially prepared reading guide. Just ask for the November book for "Cover to Cover." You can also borrow electronic versions of the novel as an e-audiobook on the library's free Libby app, or online at mcplmd.overdrive.com (it is not currently available as an e-book on Libby, or in any format through Hoopla). If you use an electronic version, please contact librarian Jeff Coster (jeffrey.coster@montgomerycountymd.gov) for a copy of the reading guide prepared specially for our group.

Cover to Cover is a monthly reading, discussion, and activity group created just for students in 2nd and 3rd grade. Each month, we will read a different chapter book that you can check out ahead of time from the Connie Morella Library (or read or listen to on one of our free e-book apps, if available), along with a specially prepared reading guide to help you get ready for the group's next meeting. At each session, we'll have an icebreaker activity and discuss the plot, characters, topics, settings, and themes of the book in a variety of different ways, from traditional question-and-answer discussion to role plays, think-pair-share, fishbowl, and more to encourage fun interaction among the participants. Then we'll finish with an activity related to the book--for example, a small art or craft project or interactive game--to reinforce the main themes or topics. Books will be chosen from among a variety of genres--adventure, humor, realistic fiction, science-fiction, fantasy, mystery--with a range of diverse characters in a variety of different cultural backgrounds and life circumstances. Many of the books used will be from lists of nominees at the appropriate age-level for honors such as the Maryland Association of School Libraries’ Black-Eyed Susan Award and the Maryland Library Association’s Youth Services Division’s Blue Crab Young Reader Award.

We'll use a range of formats, from a traditional book club, possibly with a shared read-aloud component where volunteers can practice reading out loud to their peers the first chapter of the next month's book, or perhaps a short story or poems chosen for their suitability. This program is designed to support students transitioning from beginning readers and simple chapter books into the next challenge of longer chapter books with more complex vocabulary, different writing styles, and fewer pictures, but all materials chosen for use will be in the general on-level range for ages 7 to 9. 

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.

Questions about this program? Contact the Connie Morella Library at 240-777-0970 or librarian Jeff Coster at jeffrey.coster@montgomerycountymd.gov.

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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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