Author Jean Hegland will discuss and sign her book Into the Forest on October 12 at 4 p.m. at the Valparaiso campus of Ivy Tech Community College, 3100 Ivy Tech Drive. The discussion and signing is part of the Books to Bridge the Region reading initiative. Ivy Tech was selected as one of two sites for discussion of the adult book featured in the reading initiative.

Since the initiative began in September, Ivy Tech has had several book discussions at each of its campuses in Gary, Valpo, East Chicago and Michigan City for students, staff and the community. Barbara Weaver, director of library resources for the college, said that the campuses intend to keep their book discussion groups intact and read other books as well.

Into the Forest is a near-futuristic story of two young sisters' changing relationship with each other and their environment and charts their struggle to cope in a world vastly altered by excessive goods consumption, technological failure and societal decay. This book evokes a tale of the human will to survive, the coping mechanisms individuals develop in the face of catastrophic events, and the ingenuity necessary to sustain oneself when the rules of life change. Hegland's book is available for faculty, staff and students through the library and at campus bookstores.

For more info, contact Barb Weaver at 981-1111xt 2218.