"This reference work surveys the many varieties of youth culture in America. We intend the information in these volumes to serve as a corrective to two common public conceptions: that children are a monolithic age group (often overlooking the teen or early adult years altogether) and that youth subcultures mainly consist of malicious gangs and satanic cults. The accumulated entries attest to the diversity of youth cultures across American spaces, both rural and urban, and the extent of youth in perceptions of the life span in America."--(taken from introduction).