Secret Identities and Double Lives on Tween TV

This book introduces readers to the concepts of tweenhood and television tropes by providing historical and theoretical contexts and reviewing the history of television targeted to tweens. It will benefit children’s media researchers, media and communication, cultural studies, adolescent and child development.

Secret Identities and Double Lives on Tween TV in introduces readers to the concepts of tweenhood and television (TV) tropes by providing historical and theoretical contexts and reviewing the history of TV targeted to tweens. Through a qualitative analysis of various live-action sitcoms, this book explores the popularity of programming featuring characters leading secret lives and targeted to tweens. By unpacking various theoretical explanations of this distinct period of life and examining them through the critical lens of the content of these tween TV shows that feature secret identities, the book offers a unique understanding of the tween experience woven in the nexus of power, morality, friendship, romance, family life and self-identity. This book’s analysis and understanding would benefit children’s media scholars and researchers, students of media studies, communication studies, cultural studies, adolescent studies, and child development.