“When it comes to political prescience today, Time magazine writer Charlotte Alter is arguably peerless.” — The Los Angeles Times
“She does an excellent job detailing — with persuasive data — what has shaped and motivated this young generation so far… thanks to Alter’s timely book we can have a better understanding of why an entire generation was set back and what’s driving it now.” - The New York Times
“Buoyed by Alter’s sharp writing and engaging voice. She is by turns sarcastic, funny and sincere, but always conversational; you get the sense that she has absorbed and is mirroring back to you how her characters talk…Alter’s book will come as a tonic to millennials who have grown weary of boomers’ well-worn complaints about them.” — The Washington Post
Revised and updated paperback out May 18, 2021
What People Are Saying
“The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For is an excellent and timely look at the young leaders who are at the gates, and a lesson in what we have to learn from them. If you’re curious about what the future looks like, this book is a thorough, thoughtful place to start.”
“For anyone who has dismissed millennials or who cares about our country’s future, Charlotte Alter has written a riveting, essential book. In bringing to vivid life the young upstarts who will ultimately inherit our democracy, Alter has inadvertently given us another vital young voice that will shape our political future: Hers.”
“Just when we need it, a new generational wave is poised to sweep away the aging politicians who are part of a divisive and dysfunctional system...By the end you’ll smile and say to yourself, there’s hope.”
“Millennials are pissed off and burnt out and ready for change—and The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For brilliantly profiles the leaders of our own generation who will make it happen. These leaders have been influenced (and radicalized) by pivotal millennial experiences, whether witnessing 9/11 as a young adult or taking out staggering amounts of student debt—which is part of what makes the book feel so relatable, infuriating, and hopeful, all at once.
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A new generation is stepping up. There are now twenty-six millennials in Congress--a fivefold increase gained in the 2018 midterms alone. They are governing Midwestern cities and college towns, running for city councils, and serving in state legislatures. They are acting urgently on climate change (because they are going to live it); they care deeply about student debt (because they have it); they are utilizing big tech but still want to regulate it (because they understand how it works). In The Ones We've Been Waiting For, TIME correspondent Charlotte Alter defines the class of young leaders who are remaking the nation--how grappling with 9/11 as teens, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, occupying Wall Street and protesting with Black Lives Matter, and shouldering their way into a financially rigged political system has shaped the people who will govern the future.Through the experiences of millennial leaders--from progressive firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg to Republican up-and-comer Elise Stefanik--Charlotte Alter gives the big-picture look at how this generation governs differently than their elders, and how they may drag us out of our current political despair. Millennials have already revolutionized technology, commerce, and media and have powered the major social movements of our time. Now government is ripe for disruption. The Ones We've Been Waiting For is a hopeful glimpse into a bright new generation of political leaders, and what America might look like when they are in charge.