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Jul 2008 Issue
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by Allie Condie
Author hopes novel inspires youth to resist apathy this election season.
The Constitution says presidents must have reached the age of 35, but it says nothing about who can campaign for write-in votes. That’s what persuaded 15-year-old Milo Wright to run for president in a new youth fiction book the author hopes will inspire teens to resist apathy this election season.
Freshman for President (Shadow Mountain, $8.95, Softcover) by Ally Condie, tells a surprisingly plausible story of a teenager who runs for president to gather attention to youth issues. As the media starts to report on his write-in campaign, it gives him a boost of support that results in the political education of a lifetime. Not only does he have to redefine who Milo J. Wright really is, but he also must decide what winning and losing really mean.
Condie hopes youth who read the book are inspired to attain a political education of their own by studying issues and becoming involved in the political process, though not necessarily as teenage candidates.
Since 1972 when a constitutional amendment first permitted 18-year-olds to vote, their representation at the polls has often lagged behind other age groups. Only 15 states have seen an increase in the youngest generation of voters since the amendment was adopted. Utah, Kansas and Nebraska have shown the largest decrease in young voter participation with 19 percent fewer 18-24 year-olds voting in the 2004 presidential election than in 1972.
For more details visit, www.FreshmanForPresident.com.
