POLAND – The book chosen for Poland Regional High School’s third annual “Four Towns on the Same Page” is “Whale Talk” by award-winning young adults writer Chris Crutcher. The kick-off event will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 25, in the high school library. All are welcome for the refreshments and entertainment.

The “Community Reads” event for all residents of Minot, Poland, Mechanic Falls and Raymond is designed to get adults and teenagers to read and discuss the same text.

Attendees can participate in a brief book talk, listen to the novel’s opening chapter and purchase or borrow the book. The entire student body will read the opening pages of the novel earlier in the week.

The culminating event will be the “Celebration of Reading” on March 27 featuring a talk by the book’s author and cross-generation discussion groups.

The protagonist in “Whale Talk” is the intellectually and athletically gifted TJ, a multiracial, adopted teenager who shuns organized sports until he agrees to form a swimming team and recruits some of the school’s less popular students.

“Four Towns on the Same Page” aims to foster literacy and overcome resistance to reading; bring generations together; cultivate lifelong learners and readers; offer a model of how to talk about books; and establish the high school as a center of learning and community. Contact Lori Gunn at the school, 998-5400, ext.430, for more information.

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