No Shelf Control! : A Book Club for Grades 4-6

Welcome to a new school year of No Shelf Control! If you are in grades 4, 5 or 6 and love to read and have fun talking about books and characters, this just might be the place for you! No Shelf Control meets monthly for discussion and activities related to a book chosen by a librarian just for this age group, freely available through the library, and read ahead of time. Ten-year-old Pearl loves volunteering at the aquarium in her town; cherishes her grandparents and the time they spend together; and has a small, but important, group of friends she has grown up with. Pearl also used to love school, but with the start of fifth grade, something has changed: "School used to feel like a favorite pair of jeans, almost like a second skin," she thinks to herself. "This week, school has felt like a too-small shirt inside out" (p. 42). Follow Pearl as she struggles with this unexpected change in feelings and finds the help needed to determine what's going on and how she can start enjoying all of the things she used to. Bobbie Pyron's "Octopus Moon" is a semi-autobiographical novel-in-verse told mainly from the perspective of a young person trying to navigate the onset of anxiety and depression and still maintain the sense of joy and wonder of her earlier self. You can borrow a copy of the book, 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 October meeting of No Shelf Control. The book is also available from the library's free, downloadable app Libby, or its corresponding website, mcpl.overdrive. com, as an ebook or e-audiobook (it is not currently available in any format 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. Over the course of the s