Coming of Age in 2020: Teenagers on the Year that Changed Everything

by Katherine Schulten

Overview

A time capsule of art and artifacts, created by Gen Z.

Everyone knows what coming of age in America is supposed to look like. Then came 2020. Instead of proms and championship games and all-night hangouts with friends, there was school on Zoom from bed. In this book, teenagers from across the country show how they coped with a world on fire, as a pandemic raged, political divides hardened, and the Black Lives Matter movement galvanized millions. Via diary entries, comics, photos, poems, paintings, charts, lists, Lego sculptures, songs, recipes, and rants, they tell the story of the year that will define their generation.

The pieces in this collection, chosen from more than 5,500 submitted to a contest on the New York Times Learning Network, provide an arresting documentation of how ordinary teenagers experienced extraordinary events. But for every creative expression of terror, frustration, loneliness, and anxiety, there is another of meaning, joy, resilience, and hope.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781324019459
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	10/11/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	26 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Katherine Schulten, editor-in-chief of the New York Times Learning Network for more than a decade, is the editor of Student Voice and the author of Raising Student Voice. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Editorial Reviews

"Read, share, and bask in the here and now of the young and hopeful. May we live long enough to walk the path that they’re forging. May we live long enough to see the world they create."

Joel Garza

"I’m a sucker for inspirational, well-executed student work, but Coming of Age in 2020 absolutely blew me away. It made me want to go back to the classroom and spend all of my time among these creative, resilient creatures."

Jessica Lahey

"This collection of the voices of teenagers provides a wealth of information about life in the pandemic that can inform future generations, but more importantly can remind us all what we need to do for each other now as we move beyond the pandemic. The power of a student’s voice!"

Theresa Alban

"[A]n arresting documentation of how ordinary teenagers experienced extraordinary events….[A] masterful collection of inspirational works that will touch anyone's heart."

New Age Mama

"A testimony to the strength and resilience of young people. I can't wait to use this book in my class to help my students tell their own story of this period of their lives."

Jim Burke

"A stirring, nuanced, passionate story of what young adulthood and teenagerhood look like today. Coming of Age in 2020 centers young people defining unprecedented times on their own terms—a portrait we’ll refer to for decades to come."

Rainesford Stauffer

"A testimony to the strength and resilience of young people. I can't wait to use this book in my class to help my students tell their own story of this period of their lives."

English teacher Jim Burke

05/01/2022

Drawing from 5,500 diary entries, comics, photos, poems, paintings, charts, lists, Lego sculptures, songs, recipes, and rants submitted to a contest on the New York Times Learning Network, network editor-in-chief Schulten creates a portrait of what COVID-wrecked 2020 meant for U.S. teenagers.

Library Journal