We've had some awesome discussions on the blog lately, and some questions come out of them too--which is just great! Recently, orb28 members have been curious about the history of New Moon and orb28, so I'll post a bit about that here.

New Moon Girl Media was founded by Nancy Gruver, who was looking for a way to help her 11-year-old twin daughters navigate adolescence. Nancy could not find any practical, accessible resources for her daughters or herself. In June 1992, she and her daughters decided the best solution was to create just such a resource for all girls who want their voices heard and their dreams taken seriously. And so, New Moon was born!

New Moon began as a print magazine that published girl-created content, and from the beginning, was edited by a girls board—a group of girls who review submissions and help make key decisions. 16 years later in 2008, the magazine is still going strong, and New Moon is growing online. We have multiple girl boards with girls from around the world who work with adult staff to produce and promote New Moon Girls Magazine and NewMoonGirls.com, an interactive space for girls ages 8-12 which will launch this September, as well as orb28, a community for girls ages 13-15+ which has started right here on the orb28 blog!

(Check out GWEB-member Marly's piece on her experiences on the Girls Web Editorial Board that helps to create and advise orb28!)

New Moon Girl Media began with and still operates under the principle of “Share the Power,” which recognizes the strength of girl and adult collaboration. Girls and New Moon staff respect, listen to, and learn from each other, each bringing valuable experiences and ideas to the production process that speaks girls’ creativity and thoughts to the world.

All New Moon platforms are ad-free, so that only girls' voices--and not advertiser's--are highlighted. Together we focus on who girls are and what they do, not how they look. All our communities are places where girls' voices and dreams are taken seriously!

You are invited to send in submissions of fiction and nonfiction, poetry, artwork, music, videos and more!

To read more about New Moon history, you can check out http://www.newmoongirlmedia.com/about/history/index.html and http://newmoonnews.blogspot.com/2007/06/happy-new-moon-day.html.