Book excerpt: This second edition of the handbook gives a new scientific perspective to youth and childhood studies as multi scientific and interdisciplinary subjects which as such have not yet found their own framing in a particular discipline. It provides theoretical and methodological key debates and issues that develop and add an understanding of childhood and youth research discipline from a broader perspective. The Handbook on Children and Youth Studies draws on current thinking, but also challenges theoretical and conceptual orthodoxies in the field, drawing on interdisciplinary thinking and critical perspectives. It focuses on childhood and youth to address the emerging consensus that the boundaries between childhood, youth and adulthood are blurred. The view that defining youth and childhood largely in terms of problem topics is out dated. Instead, the handbook focuses on 16 themes that are open to international perspectives and to different conceptual approaches. Each theme is edited by a pair of field editors, thereby capturing a plurality of views. The 16 themes as a starting point are globally timely and they need scientific debates on the boundaries between childhoods, youth and adulthood. This handbook will meet the needs of childhood and youth researchers and the academics in the field. It recognizes the changing social context of the lives of children and young people, while developing theoretical frameworks and discussing about the core substantive issues of Children and Youth Studies.