HarperCollins Teams Up With Declare Yourself to Publish Book Empowering Teens to Vote

    NEW YORK, Feb. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- HarperCollins Publishers will join
 forces with Declare Yourself, the national nonpartisan, nonprofit youth
 voter initiative aimed at empowering and encouraging America's youth to
 register and vote in the 2008 primaries and general election, to publish
 Declare Yourself: Speak. Connect. Vote. 50 Celebrated Americans Tell You
 Why (on sale: May 20, 2008) -- a book to inspire, educate, entertain, and
 engage teens in the political process.
 
     In the lead up to the 2008 presidential and general election,
 Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, will publish
 this collection of original essays and personal pieces about the importance
 of civic action. The contributors to Declare Yourself include young
 celebrities who will be casting their first ballot in 2008, comedians,
 actors, authors, athletes, musicians, political figures, and entrepreneurs.
 These well-known public figures will share their own experiences, relate
 personal anecdotes, and issue a call-to- action, encouraging young people
 to practice democracy and to register to vote for the upcoming election.
 Topics will range from "The First Time I Voted" to "Why the Personal is
 Political" to "Why Your Vote Counts," and more.
 
     The book announcement comes on the heels of a record turnout of young
 voters in the recent Super Tuesday elections. MTV.com recently reported
 that, in practically every state holding a primary or caucus last Tuesday,
 youth turnout increased astronomically, doubling, tripling and even
 quadrupling the turnout in the 2000 and 2004 electoral seasons.
 
     "We are excited and honored to partner with Declare Yourself and bring
 together this spirited collection of diverse and uniquely American voices,"
 says Susan Katz, President and Publisher of HarperCollins Children's Books.
 "We are united in our goal, which is saying to young people: get informed,
 get connected, declare yourselves. Become lifelong voters."
 
     America Ferrera, star of the hit ABC show Ugly Betty, will act as the
 celebrity editor and spokesperson for the Declare Yourself book. In this
 role, Ferrera will write the introduction to the book and also support the
 book through media and public appearances.
 
     Confirmed contributors for the Declare Yourself book include: Tom
 Anderson and Chris DeWolfe, Maya Angelou, Ryan Bingham, Bonnie Bernstein,
 Cheryl Burke, Meg Cabot, Nick Cannon, Sasha Cohen, Lauren Conrad, Chris
 Crutcher, Rosario Dawson, Kat DeLuna, America Ferrera, Ben Garant and
 Thomas Lennon, Anastasia Goodstein, Adrian Grenier, Hill Harper, Molly
 Ivins, Mike James, Marty Kaplan, Sean Kingston, James Kotecki, Nicole
 Lapin, Norman Lear, Maroon 5, Courtney E. Martin, Megan McCafferty, Naomi
 Shihab Nye, Hayden Panettiere, Amy Richards, Rob Riggle, Mark Ritchie,
 Henry Rollins, Atoosa Rubenstein, Stuart Scott, Holly Shulman, Amber
 Tamblyn, Aaron Tang, Aisha Tyler, Gabrielle Union, Sara Varon, Wilmer
 Valderrama, Alice Walker, Joan Walsh, Marcellus Wiley, and Judd Winick, and
 a piece by The Onion. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Declare
 Yourself's ongoing voter registration outreach initiatives.
 
     "Exercising your right to vote is one of the most powerful-and
 personal- actions anyone can take in our country. We hope that sharing
 these very personal pieces will inspire millions of young people to vote
 for the first time-and write the next chapter in the on-going story of our
 democracy," says Norman Lear, founder of Declare Yourself.
 
     In addition to HarperCollins Publishers, companies such as Cricket
 (Presenting Sponsor), Yahoo! (Premier Online Information Partner), MySpace
 (Premier Social Networking Partner), Google, Evite, Good Search, Clear
 Channel, Comedy Central, Good Magazine and American Eagle Outfitters have
 also signed on with Declare Yourself's 2008 campaign. Declare Yourself
 works closely with the most popular online destinations; young celebrities,
 sports figures and fashion designers; popular television shows; mobile
 content providers; retailers; video games; and media outlets to drive
 millions of young people, particularly first-time voters, to
 www.DeclareYourself.com to register to vote.
 
     About HarperCollins Publishers
 
     HarperCollins, one of the largest English-language publishers in the
 world, is a subsidiary of News Corporation (NYSE:   NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NWS,
 NWSLV). Headquartered in New York, HarperCollins has publishing groups
 around the world including the HarperCollins General Books Group,
 HarperCollins Children's Books Group, Zondervan, HarperCollins UK,
 HarperCollins Canada, HarperCollins Australia/New Zealand and HarperCollins
 India. HarperCollins is a broad-based publisher with strengths in literary
 and commercial fiction, business books, children's books, cookbooks,
 mystery, romance, reference, religious and spiritual books. With nearly 200
 years of history HarperCollins has published some of the world's foremost
 authors and has won numerous awards including the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer
 Prize and National Book Award, the Newbery Medal and the Caldecott.
 Consistently at the forefront of innovation and technological advancement,
 HarperCollins is the first publisher to digitize its content and create a
 global digital warehouse to protect the rights of its authors, meet
 consumer demand and generate additional business opportunities. You can
 visit HarperCollins Publishers on the Internet at
 http://www.harpercollins.com and www.harpercollinschildrens.com
 
     About Declare Yourself
 
     Declare Yourself is the national nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign to
 energize and empower every eligible 18-year-old in America to register and
 vote in the 2008 primaries and general election. Partnering with leaders in
 education, the entertainment industry, popular online destinations and
 media outlets, the fashion industry and retailers, Declare Yourself
 registered more than 1.2 million people in the 2004 and 2006 elections at
 www.DeclareYourself.com. Declare Yourself, founded by Norman Lear, was
 launched in 2003 as the culmination of the Declaration of Independence Road
 Trip, a nationwide multi-media exhibit and tour of an original copy of the
 Declaration of Independence.
 
 

     Declare Yourself
     Greenwillow Books, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
     ISBN: 9780061473166
     $11.99
     May 20, 2008
     Ages 14 up
 
 

SOURCE HarperCollins Publishers