Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture by John Savage

Rating: 4/5
Genre: Non-Fiction, YA
Page Count: 463
Books Read this Year: 29
Review:
The book was actually fascinating if you enjoy learning about the teenage culture. It traced the development of the adolescent age group from the early 1890s to 1945. Savage talks about several youth organizations, such as the Boy Scouts, and their impact on the youth of the time. He talks about how young adults really had no voice until the first world war came around. You were either a child or an adult and there wasn't much in between. He focused on America and Europe through the time periods he discusses. It was so interesting when he talked about the Hitler Youth and the things that Hitler did to brainwash his country from a young age and how little he actually cared for the youth of his country. They were simply there to further his agenda.

Savage discussed youth as a consumer and how they became one of the largest markets to advertise to. Adolescents are among the largest consumer group, a fact that wasn't realized until after the first world war. He talked about the establishment of High School and increased participation in education. It went from something for rich adolescents to a standard among youth.

The only part that I was disappointed with was his discussion about the first world war. I was really looking forward to reading about the effect that the war had on youth and the part that they played in the war but he said little about it. He talked a lot about what was happening with the war but not really how it pertained to the teenager.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in Adolescent literature. It gives you some really interesting insight to the age group that YA lit is target towards.

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