News

Sanders’ Young Adult Book Isn't Exactly 'Twilight'

by Bronwyn Isaac

As part of the fervent and faithful passing down of his legacy of democratic socialism and love for percentages, Bernie Sanders is working on a young adult book to pass down to the tousle-headed teenagers of lore. No, this will not be some twist on Twilight or The Hunger Games series. According to a report from CNN Money, Sanders' young adult debut will be unsurprisingly jam-packed with his meticulously laid out political visions. It will be an adaptation of Our Revolution, a pre-existing book by Sanders that lays out his path from senator to presidential candidate and how his run affected (and can continue to affect) the Democratic Party.

This yet-to-be-titled adaptation targets the mildly terrifying demographic of teenagers between ages 12 and 18, according to publisher Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. Hopefully, that means Sanders will include some angsty teenage anecdotes of young Bernie obsessively recording mixtapes for an unrequited lover while weeping over Marx. If not that, then hopefully the adolescent adaptation will supplement Sanders' plans to tax Wall Street bonds, with an additional chapter in which young Hillary Clinton takes one too many bong hits and ends up suspended from school, which of course ends up being one of the stories that will later attract Bill during their passionate liaison in the Yale Law School library! Just saying, if Sanders is looking to draw in the young teens he might want to employ some of the well-beloved literary devices of young adult books — playing up sex, rebellion, and detailed descriptions of popular people's hair! At least, he could include more photos of his younger self.

Sanders is already actively leading and organizing the newly formed Our Revolution political advocacy group, but according to his publisher, the Vermont senator intends to keep a rapid-fire pace and have the adaptation available by April 2017. Then, it will arrive just in time to be "pitched to booksellers as a high school graduation gift," CNN Money noted. Ah yes, forget the car or iPhone! Give me an affordable political manifesto reader!

Political or not, the concept of Sanders penning a young adult book creates a joyous mental picture in which the former presidential candidate is downing coffee while researching famous Snapchat accounts in order to key into the trends of the youngest millennials.

In reality, though, it's admirable how much work Sanders is doing towards Our Revolution and how he's planting seeds for future generations, even if he didn't achieve his ultimate goal of reaching the White House. I believe that his youth outreach is proof that Sanders will not go gently into that dark night, either with his large-scale political vision or the passing of his legacy. That's a work ethic that can be admired by people of all age demographics.