13-year-old Helps Her Community

Check out this story about Jamie, a Minnesota girl, who is raising money so that her town can buy a new storm siren, even though some town leaders told her to give up.

Congratulations Jamie for letting your voice be heard and for NOT giving up!

Girls, we want to hear your stories. What sort of things are you doing to help the people in your community? Has an adult ever told you to give up something you wanted to do? Did you listen to them? Send your stories to blog@newmoon.org

Friday Book Review

This weekend's recommended reading comes from Madeline:

"A while ago, I read Sold by Patricia McCormick. This story really touched me. It's about a Nepalian girl who is unwittingly sold into prostitution, thinking she is going to work for a family earning money for her own impoverished family. This story is based on the interviews and things that Patricia McCormick has actually seen. I think it's an important topic, and one that New Moon readers will be interested in. Check it out!"

Click here to read an interview with the author about Sold.

Take Back The Night

For the past month and a half I have been on the planning committee for our local Take Back the Night event. The planning has come to an end and the event is tonight! Here is the history of Take Back the Night from www.takebackthenight.org

Take Back the Night’s roots may lie in 1877 when women protested the fear and violence they experienced in the night-time streets of London, England.

Others believe that the first rally occurred in 1976 when women attending the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women lit candles and took to the moonlit streets of Belgium to denounce the continuation of violence against women. While the origins of Take Back the Night may be disputed, its impact is undeniable. Since its inception, thousands of marches and rallies bearing the name Take Back the Night have taken place worldwide.

Earlier this afternoon, our mayor proclaimed today as "Take Back the Night Day" in Duluth, MN and as he was reading the proclamation, tears began to well up in my eyes. At that moment I truly realized how signifigant tonight's event is. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE should have the right to live their lives free from violence, harassment and abuse.

And so, I go into this night knowing I will be busy helping to keep the event running smoothly. But, I also know that it will be very emotional as I walk through the streets of my town letting MY voice be heard, telling the world that I have a RIGHT to be safe.

Girls Walk to Stand Up

Eleven-year-old Asmahan Mansour wore a red hijab all year on her Nepean, Ontario girls soccer team. But she was ejected from the Canadian indoor championships when the referee claimed it was a safety hazard. Saying that hijabs are less dangerous than other things players wear (like eyeglasses), Asmahan’s teammates walked off the field together, choosing team solidarity over their chance for a national crown. Other Ottawa-area teams also quit in protest. Asmahan said, “ I was very proud of my teammates for having my back.”

Do you agree with the team walking off the field? Have you ever done something similar to show that you disagree with a decision or rule? We want to hear your stories!

Sports: Bringing out the competitive side!

Hi Girls! We have another wonderful writing opportunity for you! I am looking for a girl to tell me why she thinks that being competitive is the most important part of playing sports.

Maybe it's because you believe you should work hard to win, or that winning will bring scholarships to college, whatever the reason, I'd like to hear what you think.

I'm looking for responses that are about 300 words to be published in the Sept./Oct. issue of New Moon! Please don't post your responses on here, send them directly to editintern@newmoon.org. Remember to include your full name, age, and address to be considered. I will contact you if your piece has been chosen to run in our magazine. I'm looking forward to hearing your side of this sports debate! :)

New Moon Book Club Chat on Monday, April 23rd -- and you can get a free book!

This Monday, New Moon book club members will be meeting for an online chat with author Esme Raji Codell about her book, Sahara Special. Here's some information about the book:

"There are two files on Sahara Jones. The one the school counselor keeps is evidence that she's a fifth-grader who needs special education. The other is the book Sahara is secretly writing, her Heart-Wrenching Life Story and Amazing Adventures. The latest chapter in her book unfolds when her mother insists that she be taken out of special ed. So Sahara is facing fifth grade in the regular classroom, again. But why even try to do the work, Sahara wonders, if everything just winds up in the counselor's file? Enter Miss Pointy, the new fifth-grade teacher. With her eggplant-colored lipstick, and strange subjects such as “Puzzling” and “Time Travel,” she's like no other teacher Sahara has ever known. Through Miss Pointy's unusual teaching, storytelling, and quiet support, Sahara finds the courage to overcome her fears and prove which file shows her true self."

Esme is so excited to chat with book club members on April, 23rd at 7:30 p.m central time, that she's giving away copies of Viva la Paris, the sequel to Sahara Special, FREE! Be one of the first 25 book club members to email crystalp@newmoon.org with your name and address and we'll send it out to you FREE of charge!

Buy the book, Sahara Special, here!

Some Weekend Reading

Hey, readers! I get lots of great book recommendations from girls and thought Fridays would be a great time to post them on the blog -- just in case anyone has some extra time for reading over the weekend! Olivia shares her review of the classic Diary of Anne Frank.

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt, Germany on 12 June 1929. She was born into a Jewish family and suffered greatly from the Holocaust. In 1933 the Franks moved to Amsterdam because of Hitler's rise to power. Anne and her older sister Margot attended a nearby Montessori school. Life for the Jewish people was easy-going and peaceful life until May 1940. At that time all Jews were forced to wear the star of David on their clothing and many of their everyday privileges were taken away. On the day of Anne's 13th birthday she received a diary. This was the diary that made her famous. It was a journal in which she recorded all her personal and intimate teenage thoughts and feelings. She took this beloved passion into hiding with her and continued to write in it until the day she was taken by the Nazis. Anne Frank died in late February or early March in the year 1945 from the typhus epidemic in a concentration camp near Hanover, Germany. Her body was most likely dumped in Bergen-Belsen mass graves.

Anne's father, Otto Frank, was the only member of the eight who went into hiding in the annex who survived the concentration camps. He arrived back in Amsterdam on 3 June 1945.
Miep Gies and Bep Voskuilji, who were the two secretaries working in the building where the annex, was located found Anne's diary all over the floor. They tucked it away for safekeeping. When it became clear to them that Anne had died they gave it unread to Otto. Otto Frank decided to fulfil his daughter's dream and publish her diary. He cut out parts of the original text written by Anne that was considered inappropriate for those times. Anne's unedited diary has become known as version a. This is the version I read.

The diary has been published in 55 different languages and 25 million copies have been sold around the world. This book touched many different emotions inside me: Anger, fear, disgust, joy, love and pure sadness. Anne is an incredible writer that touches the reader. It is horrifying to read about such a dark chapter in all of history. - Olivia, 13, New South Wales, Australia

What would you do?

Hi Girls!
In our September/October issue of the magazine we're featuring a section that debates both sides of an ethical issue. We're looking for responses to this scenario (below) in about 150 words to see what you, the readers would do! We will choose the best responses and publish them in our magazine!

It’s almost time to go to the last class of the day and you’re getting ready to meet your two best friends, Erin and Katie, so you can all go together. When you approach them they are giggling and let you know that they’re going to skip class today and go to the mall instead. You might’ve considered it if the teacher of the next class wasn’t your absolute favorite, so you shrug and head off. When you sit down the teacher begins taking attendance and after neither Katie or Erin respond to roll, she asks you where they are. If you tell her that they skipped class to go shopping you know that they’re going to be in trouble when they return. But you also don’t feel comfortable lying to a teacher who has always gone out of her way to trust her students and treat them as equals. What do you do?

Once you've considerded this situation and brainstormed the best thing you could do, please email your response to editintern@newmoon.org Please include your full name, address and age in order to be considered for publishing! I can't wait to hear what you would do!

Are you a Bookworm?

Hey, readers! I want to tell you about Bookworm, a great magazine I recently discovered. I found out about Bookworm through its creator, 13-year-old Sophie, who emailed New Moon about her project. She generously sent me a few copies of the magazine, and it's one of the best magazines produced for kids and by kids that I've ever seen. It's got great poetry, fiction, artwork, book reviews, you name it! Sophie is always looking for submissions, so it's also a great place to try your luck at publishing YOUR writing. To learn more about Bookworm magazine, check out the website at http://bookworm-mag.com/.

New Moon is looking for writers!

Have you ever wanted to write for New Moon? Right now, New Moon has a couple opportunities for girl writers ages 8 - 14.

1. The Great Debate: The Prison System
For New Moon's September/October 2007 issue, "The Great Debate," we will have two girls debating about the effectiveness of the prison system. We need a girl to argue in favor of the prison system. If you think the prison system is a good way to hold criminals accountable and keep citizens safe, email me (laceyl@newmoon.org) with your ideas for the article.

2. Global Village
New Moon is looking for Global Village articles! Global village articles must be
a) written by a girl who lives outside North America
b) written by a girl who is NATIVE to the country she's writing about

Since there's so much world out there, New Moon prefers NOT to publish articles about countries we've covered in the past. If you are a girl or know a girl who lives outside North America who you think would be a good writer for Global Village, email laceyl@newmoon.org for more details about whether your Global Village article idea would be a good fit.

Also, we're always in need of good department submissions, especially for Howling at the Moon, How Aggravating!, and Voice Box.

I can't wait to hear from you!

Write about what you know: Being a Girl

As you know, at New Moon we believe that girls are the LEADING experts when it comes to, well, being girls. Our friends at Girl Child Press feel the same way. In fact, they're collecting stories from girls to publish in their new book, Just Like a Girl: A Manifesta! See their submission guidelines below -- and then share your talent with them!

Just Like a Girl: A Manifesta!

The latest offering from GirlChild Press is intended to be a rough and tumble, sassy, wickedly clever anthology.

Just Like a Girl is meant to highlight the clever girls, the funny girls, the girls who don’t ask for permission and take up as much room as they like. She is the girl who knows there is no sin in being born one; and that in spite of all evidence and current belief systems girl/woman does not equal weak.

Said girl doesn’t have to be a super hero, but she has hit a few balls out of the park, called out a couple trash talking construction workers, and took a few racist, homophobic, misogynistic folks to task. Ultimately, she knows how to pick herself up and brush herself off.

She’s a feminist. 2nd Wave. 3rd Wave. No Wave.
She’s high maintenance.
She has read the Patriot Act. She understands it.
She recognizes that people’s lives fall apart, but with time and some Elmer’s glue it all works itself out.

She’s an urban girl. A country girl.
She lives in a square state. A blue state. A red state.

She seriously ponders what are the SAT scores of those girls grinding in the music videos. She is the girl in the music video.

She has the perfect plan on how to break up with a boyfriend.
She’s a 25th century girl.
She knows the words to Roberta Flack’s Killing Me Softly.
She is a cashier at WALMART.
She’s the second chair flute in her 8th grade band.
She marches on Washington
She has 6,000 friends on myspace.com

She writes for herself. She writes for her sister. She writes for the girls still not born.

Think of Just Like a Girl as a travelogue for the bumpy, powerful, action packed world of girlhood.

Tell a secret.
Reveal a lie
Go tell it on the mountain.
You get the point.
So cast a net and see what the day’s catch brings

Submission Details

Deadline: September 30, 2007

The anthology is open to any subject matter.
Work is especially welcomed from new and emerging writers.
Contributors may submit up to three pieces.
Essays and short stories should be no longer than 3,000 words.
Poems should have the contributor’s name on each page
Sci-fi is encouraged!

Electronic Mail
Send your work to girlchildpress@aol.com
Attachments should be titled with your name and the email subject should be Just Like a Girl.

Snail mail
Michelle Sewell
GirlChild Press
PO Box 93
Hyattsville, MD 20781

Please include a brief bio and a mailing address.

Contributors will receive a copy of the anthology and the opportunity to read at the official Spring 2008 booksigning.

For more information on Michelle Sewell and the press check out www.girlchildpress.com


michelle
www.girlchildpress.com