ABSTRACT
The two key questions relating to child stars posed at the beginning of this book were quite simple: Why do we have child stars? And why are former child stars so frequently ridiculed and denigrated in the press? I investigated these questions through an analysis of media stories and self-told accounts of child stardom from newspapers, magazines, books, and web sites through a dual approach which explored both the powerlessness and power of the child star in our culture. What follows is a summary of those fi ndings, along with an identifi cation of other key issues which were brought up by the research. I go on to discuss these themes in relation to wider concerns about children and childhood in contemporary society and explain the signifi cance of the child star as a reference point for understanding the complexity of the current status of Western childhood.
