Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-298) and index.

pt 1. The puzzle and the tools. -- Why do they behave like that? -- The tools for understanding -- pt 2. Explaining teens' behavior. -- Fitting in, standing out, and keeping up -- Steering clear, hanging out, and hooking up -- Exchanges, labels, and put-downs -- pt 3. Why schools vary. -- The pluralistic high school -- Other kinds of schools -- pt 4. Teen status systems and consumerism. -- Creating consumers -- Consuming life -- Conclusions and implications.

"Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids argues that the teenage behaviors that annoy adults do not arise from hormones, bad parenting, poor teaching, or the media, but from adolescents' lack of power over the central features of their lives: they must attend school; they have no control over the curriculum; they can't choose who their classmates are. What teenagers do have is the power to create status systems and symbols that not only exasperate adults, but also impede learning and maturing. Ironically, parents, educators, and businesses are inadvertently major contributors to these outcomes." "An absorbing journey that stirs up a mixture of nostalgia and dismay, Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids shows how high school distills the worst features of American consumer society and shapes how we relate to our neighbors, partners, and coworkers. It also provides insight into how our schools and the lives of teenagers might be transformed."--Jacket.