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Pre-order your high quality, hard cover edition of Obama's America: Personal Stories of Change from Across the Political Spectrum to be among first to own this important piece of history. Target publication date is Fall of 2010. The cost is only $30, including shipping and handling.

Excerpts from the book

Here is an excerpt from an essay by Monique Hayes which will be included in the final book. Her story is entitled, "Tell me Lincoln, What You're Thinking" and was one of the $100 prize winners in the first round of our contest when we were looking for stories surrounding the Inauguration itself.

Once we reach the gate, nothing about me stands out. We are buried in a mass in the next moments, when we become more than ourselves. The throng moves dizzily as they fetch their tickets. Neither my father nor I could secure a ticket in any of the local lotteries. I envy those ahead of us, who brandish silver tickets given to them by politicians who may not show up themselves. Other tickets must be gifts or emblems of good fortune, with borders of royal colors, gallant gold or majestic purple. When I was little, I wrote essays where I believed in the majesty of purple mountains, the pilgrims' promise, and the hard-won conquests to make these United States. My eraser never hit the page because my ambition ceased to end, everything registering as important. I majored in history to learn of the humble beginnings of my homeland. Instead, I heard the home cry of what lead to its making. I realized it took so much to have unity for the union, a promise so beautifully conceived on a piece of parchment long ago, but that took longer for others to actually possess. My patriotism grew distant by the day. In college, I learned of the cruelties my children and I would never have to face. There was the one drop rule, the paper bag test, and the slave auctions. I wanted to turn myself inside out, gaze at the shape of my sinews, watch the forceful rush of my blood. The cobalt veins would mix with the red trail in perfect cohesion. I would feel my heart beat in the heat of relived anger and breathe in the cool comfort of not having had to endure it, of being alive and free. My father grew up at the tail end of segregation, when the world lost Martin Luther King Jr. He saw hatred try to take away hope. Today, he's purchased a calendar, a hat, and a commemorative inauguration program. I help him hold memorabilia for a black man who leads us to believe in victory thirty years after that loss. Walking next to each other, we are somebody again.

Important Note:

Ordering the book will have no bearing on any contest entry that you may submit. All entries will be judged solely by the criteria listed in the rules and rubric.