Teen movies seem ubiquitous, but every genre has its origins. Beginning with the Andy Hardy films of 1937–46, in which Mickey Rooney played the quintessential white American schoolboy, Handy’s (Wild Things: The Joys of Reading Children’s Literature as an Adult) book moves through 1950s juvenile-delinquency movies and James Dean as the ultimate misunderstood teen. The beach party movies of the 1960s showcased a more palatable, yet sex-obsessed brand of teen freedom, while 1973’s American Graffiti sparked Hollywood nostalgia for the 1950s and the end of a particular kind of innocence. Fast forward to 1982’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High, with its real-world consequences, and the legendary impact of the ’80s films of writer/director John Hughes, who connected with teenagers unlike any other filmmaker. In the early ’90s, John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood focused on the stark reality of many Black American teens, while 2004’s Mean Girls perfectly blended comedy with an accurate portrayal of the struggles of teenage girls. The book ends with Twilight and The Hunger Games, franchises launched in 2008 and 2012, respectively, that dominated the teen landscape with their fantasy and dystopian elements. Handy thoroughly covers all these films in his well-informed and wonderfully subjective voice. Still, the key to the book is the underlying history of teenagers in the United States. VERDICT A thoroughly entertaining and fascinating look at some of the United States’ favorite teen movies.