Explores a significant, but overlooked. part of growing up: crushes on Teen Idols and how those experiences influence our lives. Idols of Our Youth offers a romp through the past 50 years of pop culture with intimate insights about girl culture and celebrities and how such formative experiences can have long-lingering effects on choices in adulthood.

In the midst of acne, social anxiety and training bras are the teen idols that make adolescent life a little more bearable. Whether their cutouts are plastered on bedroom walls or hidden behind locker doors, there is no denying the impact of these stars on young women. This collection of new essays explores with tenderness and humor the teen crushes of the past 60 years--from Elvis to John Lennon to Whitney Houston--who have influenced the choices of women, romantically or otherwise, well into adulthood.