This inaugural issue by the new editors-in-chief brings together a group of cutting-edge developmental scholars who each report on promising new lines of theory and research within their specialty areas. Their essays cover a selection of important topics including emotion-regulation, family socialization, friendship, self, civic engagement, media, and culture. In the succinct, engaging essays, all authors provide thought-provoking views of the horizons in the field. This is the 109th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series "New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development".