In our summer e-newsletter, which you can read on our website under Press, we introduced an upcoming fall project, Frankenreads. Frankenreads is an international celebration of the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for Halloween 2018, organized by the Keats-Shelley Association of America. Touchstones is inviting everyone to participate in this week-long event (Oct. 24-31, 2018) by running their own special Touchstones discussion on Tues. Oct 30. What a wonderful option for a Halloween get-together!

We’ll provide all registered participants with one of four versions of an excerpt from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, based on your group’s needs. Three of the excerpts are edited and adapted for grade-level appropriateness. The fourth is the original text written by Shelley. In addition, we’re including a fully developed lesson plan to use with your selected excerpt. We encourage educators, community groups, families, and friends to join us in running a Touchstones discussion that explores themes of friendship, loneliness, difference, and community. Shelley’s poignant recognition of the enduring nature of emotional struggle offers us a chance to re-examine what it means to have a place in any society and what it means to be human.