Italy High School is currently in full swing of its second Read It Forward: Pass It On literacy project which will end April 29. The goal is to see how many 7-12 grade students, teachers and staff members will read the chosen book Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy by Sonya Sones during April.

On April 4, twenty-five paperback copies of the short novel in verse wrapped in bright green paper were hidden in classrooms throughout the school. Whoever found the packages got to open them and read the novel first. Then they signed the back of the book and passed it on to the next reader.

Readers then can take a short online survey about their reactions to the novel as well as sign the big poster on display in the library. All those who read the novel by April 29 will be invited to a Reader Celebration Party in May.

To introduce the novel to students and staff, a “book trailer” similar to a movie trailer was created. Anyone is welcome to view the online book trailer at the Italy High School website. Click on the link at the top of the home page. The online survey can also be found at the bottom of the homepage.

Last year over 90 students and staff members read the selected novel – almost one-third of the whole school.