Decade by decade, this resource offers an overview of all aspects of American teenagers' lives from 1900 to 1999, as they evolved through the century. Using a variety of sources from sociological studies to popular magazines, this work shows how teens have responded to the political events that have characterized each decade. It also describes the patterns that have affected their home, work, and school lives, patterns of dating and sex, trends in alcohol and drug use, and teen tastes in books and movies and use of slang and fashions. Seventy illustrations make the personalities, interests, and media of each decade come alive for students of history, literature, and popular culture. Twentieth-Century Teen Culture by the Decades chronicles the evolution of teenagers through the bobby-soxers of the 1940s, beatniks of the 1950s, and hippies of the 1960s, to the independent and outspoken teens of the 1990s. With photographs of teens, anecdotal information, and statistics, Rollin pulls together sources on fashion, slang, film, radio, and music. She confirms the great impact that rock music has had on teen life since the late 1940s as it traces the evolution of favorite performers and styles. She summarizes the patterns of youth freedoms and adult fears that resulted in such public efforts as the Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency in the 1950s and the attempts to label rock concerts as dangerous in the 1990s. She also demonstrates that the teen violence that seems to characterize the 1990s is not new. Twentieth-Century Teen Culture by the Decades is a must for answering the question of how teens lived during each decade and how each decade has influenced teens' lives today. Grade 7 Up-An exceptionally well-written and entertaining history of that lively, often perplexing group, U.S. teenagers. Drawing on sources ranging from glossy magazines to serious academic treatises, Rollin showcases young adult hobbies, language, social life, fashions, music, literature, and fads of the last century from the Gibson-girl look to body piercing under such headings as "Teens at Home" and "Leisure Activities and Entertainment." Tables covering attitudes toward drinking, teens in the labor force, and other topics are scattered throughout the book. An extensive list of resources concludes each chapter. Average-quality, black-and-white photographs, movie stills, comic strips, and reproductions complement the text. Notes on statistics and sources and an annotated appendix listing teen-related Internet sites are included. This is a first-rate, thoroughly researched compendium of facts, as appealing to browsers as it is useful for reports. Starr E. Smith, Marymount University Library, Arlington, VA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Calling this volume a reference guide is somewhat misleading; it is, rather, a thorough, well-researched, and highly readable social history of American teenagers in this century. Rollin, a Clemson faculty member who's previously written about children's literature, provides a decade-by-decade account of the roles of the various institutions (church, school, the workplace), technology (radio, movies, television), and changing family dynamics that have informed teenage culture over time. Good historical overviews of world and national events set the scene at the beginning of each chapter, and the author's notes on sources and statistics, as well as an appendix of teen-oriented Internet links at the end further enhance this book. Her observation that "many adultsAparents, educators, and reformersAwere appalled by the popularity of...crude entertainments" refers, interestingly, not to our current anxiety about the effects of violent entertainment on young people but to the age of the NickelodeonAthe early 1900s. Recommended for academic collections and larger public libraries.AEllen Gilbert, Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, NJ Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. Conceived as an overview of American teenagers' lives from 1900 to 1999, this guide is written for teen and adult readers. Using sources from popular magazines to scholarly works, it is a tour through each decade's historical events, slang, music, fashions, school, home, work, and other aspects of culture as experienced by teens. In the preface the author, who teaches Children's and Adolescent Literature at Clemson University, notes that economically disadvantaged and minority teens are underrepresented because of a lack of information. Each decade (except the years 1900 to 1920, which are covered in a single chapter) receives a treatment of 20 to 50 pages, concluding with a list of references. The chapters are readable, with subtopics shown in bold type. The book concludes with a note on sources used for statistics, a note on sources that were particularly useful, an appendix that gives a sampling of teen-oriented Web sites, and a detailed index. There are some small problems. The black-and-white photos smattered thr