In this critique of America's consumption-based society, author Jennifer Hill chronicles the impact of consumer culture on children--from the evolution of childhood play to a child's self-perception as a consumer to the consequences of this generation's repeated media exposure to violence. Hill proposes that corporations, eager to tap into a multibillion-dollar market, use the power of advertising and the media to mold children's thoughts and behaviors.

The book features vignettes with teenagers explaining, in their own words, how advertising determines their needs, wants, and...