Millennials have gained a reputation as a rather entitled bunch, expecting to have a great job with plenty of free time for hobbies, travel, and accomplishing all sorts of meaningful goals. But while it’s tempting for older generations to see these upstarts (according to the U.S. Census Bureau, those born between 1982 and 2000) as having it easy, books by and for Millennials paint a less rosy picture.
Kevin Breel gained notice after his 2013 TEDx Youth talk about his struggles with depression went viral, receiving more than 2.1 million views so far. In the recently released Boy Meets Depression (Harmony), Breel, now 22, discusses the roots of his emotional difficulties, his suicide attempt, and his eventual self-acceptance, despite not meeting the high standards he once held for himself.
“Adolescents and young adults are being trained by society and even parents to believe they need to be superhuman, perfectly polished, and with nary an emotional wrinkle in their days,” says the book’s editor, Heather Jackson. “But that’s not reality, and it leaves those who are suffering deeply feeling like they are alone, when they are far from that.”
Sam Lansky, 26 and an editor at Time, writes of his struggles against high expectations in The Gilded Razor (S&S/Gallery, Jan. 2016). In his final year at an elite New York City prep school, Lansky descended into a spiral of casual sex with older men and a prescription drug addiction, leading to an overdose.
“The tone is confessional and self-deprecating in the way that many young writers on the Internet are,” says Mitchell Ivers, v-p and senior editor at Gallery, “especially Millennials who honed their voices, as the author did, on social media platforms like Tumblr and Twitter.”
Zach Anner, a 30-year-old stand-up comic and humor writer who has cerebral palsy, approaches his disability with irreverence in If at Birth You Don’t Succeed (Holt, Mar. 2016). Anner first gained notice in 2010, when he won an Oprah Winfrey–sponsored contest to get a TV show, Rollin’ with Zach, on OWN. Today, more than 238,000 people subscribe to his YouTube channel.
“He’s grown up as ‘the other’ to everyone,” says Emi Ikkanda, associate editor at Holt, “but the obstacles he’s faced aren’t necessarily bigger than anyone else’s, and young people can easily relate to the pressure to fit in and the struggle to find your voice.”
Speaking Up
Themes of finding one’s voice, and embracing one’s identity, recur in books aimed at Millennial readers. In Ask a Queer Chick (Plume, Feb. 2016), which grew out of author Lindsay King-Miller’s popular column of the same title in the Hairpin, the 28-year-old shares her experiences of coming out and navigating the world as an LGBTQ person, offering encouragement and advice for dealing with various personal challenges.
“King-Miller discusses what happens when friends or family reject, disparage, or refuse to acknowledge an LGBTQ person’s chosen identity—which is, unfortunately, still a common occurrence,” says Kathleen Napolitano, the book’s editor. “[King-Miller emphasizes] protecting your own physical and emotional health above all, which sometimes means cutting toxic people out of your life.”
Running Press has just released a title that addresses the topic of combatting other people’s perceptions from a different angle: Strong Is the New Sexy by 27-year-old Nicole Polizzi, better known as Snooki, from MTV’s Jersey Shore. She presents a more vulnerable version of herself than fans may be familiar with, describing how she has challenged public assumptions about her and created a somewhat conventional life (marriage, children) in the wake of her TV notoriety.
Lindy West, 33, a writer for GQ, Jezebel, the Guardian, and other outlets, enjoyed a burst of attention earlier this year, when she documented, on an episode of This American Life, what it was like to confront an online troll. In Shrill (Hachette Books, May 2016), the author, who has 61,000 Twitter followers, addresses this experience and, more generally, discusses bullying, feminism, and self-improvement, offering guidance for readers.
“Lindy has built a following because she stands up for herself and the people who have no voice,” says Mauro DiPreta, editor of Shrill and v-p and publisher of Hachette Books. Millennial readers, he says, can draw lessons from authors like West. “Living life with meaning and purpose instills confidence.”
