YA for Obama
I’ve already written about the candidate I’m voting for. And I’m sympathetic to those (retro)blog readers who are uninterested in reading another word about my political inclinations.
I get it. I really do.
This is just one of the reasons why I’m happy to announce my enthusiastic participation with YA For Obama. This new site–launching today!–will be the forum for expressing my opinions about the election. The (retro)blog will remain a (mostly) retro blog.
If you want to read more about this community, read on. If not, then skip the rest of this entry and come back tomorrow for a non-partisan Senryu Tuesday, and later in the week when I’ll recap my event at Holmdel and post the next installments of my eighth grade masterwork, Life is Tough.
So. You decided to read on. Excellent! Because I’m so proud to be a part of YA for Obama. In the words of the dynamic Maureen Johnson who put this whole thing together:
The idea came from the simple realization that so many Young Adult authors seem to be for Obama, and that we have between us quite a lot of smart, involved readers. So far, about 50 writers have signed on to the project. They include: Judy Blume, Meg Cabot, Holly Black, Libba Bray, Scott Westerfeld, Megan McCafferty, David Levithan, Cecily Von Ziegesar, and John Green.
YA for Obama is a social networking site, so there are many components. Every day, a blog post by a different author will be featured. Readers can make their own pages, talk in forums, form friendships, and contribute their own videos and photos. This is a true online community site—not just a one-side operation in which we talk and everyone else listens.
While this site is for readers of all ages (and even nationalities), there will be a lot of emphasis on giving readers who are under 18 a place in the process. Those are our people, and they want to be a part of this election. While they can’t vote, they can certainly use their energy and talents to get others to do so—putting up signs, making videos, or badgering their family members to the polls.
Of course, the fantastic irony about YA for Obama is how it’s the type of site I rejected two weeks ago. But in this case, the content isn’t about me, but Obama. And his Presidency is a cause I had no hesitation signing up for.
So join us. “Friend” me. (A concept that still feels weird enough to require quotations. I mean, the fact that I can “friend” my childhood idol Judy Blume is TOTALLY RIDICULOUS.) And if you really, really want to make me happy, contribute a Barack-u! poem.
