Returning to Curtis High School after doing a reading last spring, the author of An Invisible Thread, Laura Schroff, was warmly welcomed  on November 7 by approximately 250 students. Mr. DeConzo, the Assistant Principal of English, decided that it should be on every student’s summer reading list. “I wanted every student to read An Invisible Thread, as it shows that acts of kindness can change someone’s life,” says Mr. DeConzo.

As when Schroff visited Curtis on December 12th, 2013, the reading was started with a video presentation. Last year’s video was news interviews and publicity, while this year’s video showed interviews of both Schroff and Maurice Mazyck commenting on their experiences with the book, what it has done for them, and how it can influence others.

Once the lights came back on, Schroff opened her reading with an Ernest Hemingway quote: “The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” She said that she used this exact ideology when she invited Maurice to her apartment for the first time. There had to be a level of trust and a sense that she only wanted to be friends.

Towards the end of her presentation in the library, Schroff announced that everyone has the ability to make a profound change in the lives around them. “Teachers and faculty build character, and character is the most critical tool for a successful life,” she said. This ideology applies to every student in Curtis, as one small act of kindness could be the light at the end of the tunnel for others, as was the case with Maurice Mazyck. Schroff also credited her success to high schools and teenagers, as they made her book popular enough to be on the New York Time’s Bestseller list.

“The book was very interesting. I was unable to see her [Schroff]; however, from the book I gathered that she was a really good person for letting Maurice in to her life and her generosity in taking him out to lunch every Monday was sweet,” said freshman Maria Valez.

Even though An Invisible Thread is a  popular novel and has touched many people, Laura Schroff and Maurice Mazyck’s story doesn’t end with the novel. Towards the end of 2015 or early 2016, a children’s book will be made out of the Christmas tale from the novel, and it will be geared towards children four to six years old. Even with the novel and the children’s book, the destined relationship has not yet finished branching out; the day before Schroff’s presentation in the Curtis Library, she signed a film contract for the novel.