Young Adults

CHICAGO - Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday called the healthcare decision “historic,” noting that presidents from both parties for decades before Obama tried and failed to expand medical coverage. As Obama's chief of staff at the beginning of the term, Emanuel was a key player in passing the law through Congress, where he previously served. It's a good thing the president ignored his warnings about the political peril of wading into health care, Emanuel told reporters.

Looking to expand its presence in the teen and young adult market, Warner Bros. Television Group has struck a deal to purchase Alloy Entertainment, a content company that specializes in youth-oriented books aimed particularly at females. Although terms of the acquisition from ZelnickMedia Corp. were not disclosed, people with knowledge of the transaction who declined to speak publicly said the purchase price exceeded $100 million. Alloy and Warner Bros. have collaborated on a number of TV shows and movies over the last several years.

In Martha Brockenbrough's heaven, old people show too much leg playing leap frog, and the church choir covers classic rock. Clearly, Brockenbrough is not a follower of the New Testament. That's good news for heathen readers who will delight in the author's absurdist take on the after life in her devilishly riotous young adult debut, "Devine Intervention. " Steeped in the heavenly tropes of guardian angels and lost souls, "Devine Intervention" is a satire in the vein of Libba Bray's "Beauty Queens," only with a decidedly sacrilegious twist.

WASHINGTON - President Obama's healthcare law helped as many as 6.6 million young adults stay on or get on their parents' health plans in the first year and a half after the law was signed, a new survey indicates. That number, found in the survey by the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund, is far higher than earlier estimates. And at a time when public wariness about the Affordable Care Act remains high, it underscores the popularity of a provision that requires insurers to allow parents to enroll their children up to age 26 on their own plans.

Beauty Lisa Daily Razorbill, $9.99, ages 12 and older A girl wishes for popularity during a fair in the aptly named town of Miracle, Ohio -- and then must cope with the consequences of her new, not always wonderful situation. (May) Between the Lines Jodi Picoult & Samantha van Leer Emily Bestler Books/Atria/Simon Pulse, $19.99, ages 12 and older What goes on inside a book when it's closed? A teen girl finds out from a fictional hero in a book she loves in this YA romance by bestselling author Picoult and her daughter.

CHICAGO — Maxine Lauer calls the group of consumers 15 to 34 "Generation Now" because they want what they want and they want it now. Trouble is, "now" isn't happening for them, especially for those in the middle of that range, their 20s, who might reasonably be expected to be thinking about buying their first homes. Generally, though, that's not something they're doing, because most of them just can't, said Lauer, whose Sphere Trending retail industry consulting firm in Waterford, Mich., has studied their attitudes in depth.

Warning: Music may be hazardous to your health. It's not just your hearing that's at risk, according to a study out Monday in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics. Teens and young adults who listen to digital music players with ear buds are almost twice as likely as non-listeners to smoke pot, the study says. And those who attend concerts or frequent dance clubs are nearly six times as likely as homebodies to go on a binge-drinking bender. These findings are based on survey results collected from 944 low-income students at two vocational schools in the Netherlands.

Earlier this week, long-languishing NBC ordered a fall sitcom with an apt title: "Save Me. " As they get ready to roll out their fall lineups next week in New York, rival networks know the feeling. TV executives are scrambling to counter steep drop-offs among young-adult viewers and some record-low series ratings this spring. Fox's once-dominant singing show"American Idol" has seen ratings tumble by nearly 30% to its lowest totals since summer 2002, according to Nielsen. Of the Top 10 programs this season among total viewers, not a single freshman series makes the cut. And for viewers ages 18 to 49 - the category most advertisers care about - the only first-season shows to attain genuine hit status areCBS' raunchy sitcom"2 Broke Girls" and Fox's over-the-top singing contest"The X Factor" - both barely scraping under the wire at Nos. 9 and 10 respectively.

For the young, regret over poor choices or missed opportunities can be a powerful carrot: It sparks reappraisal, accelerates learning and motivates change. In the old, regret appears to be no better than a stick -- a stern reminder of poor choices, lost powers and our short time remaining on earth. So what's the key to happy old age? Don't lunge after the carrot and you won't get hit by the stick. A new study finds that how we deal with foregone options and lost opportunities makes a huge difference in whether we will grow into happy seniors or succumb to late-life depression.

As "American Idol" winds down its 11th season, it's time to ask: Is Fox's smash singing contest losing the kids? For years, "Idol" was TV's unrivaled ratings champ, and a big part of its success lay in its appeal to young people, who made it their No. 1 TV choice for years. But this year, critics are attacking the show as increasingly stodgy while viewership has plunged more than 30% among teens and 20-somethings. And many of those viewers have gone to NBC's "The Voice," a hipper and sexier upstart that has much younger judges and often edgier songs.