"When can contexts and diversity be resources, rather than risks, for children's developmental pathways? Scholars, policymakers, and practitioners are realizing that middle childhood matters as a time when children's pathways diverge, as they meet new and overlapping contexts they must navigate on their way to adolescence and adulthood. This volume shines new light on this important transition by tracing how these contexts - cultural, economic, historical, political, and social - can support or undermine children's pathways, and how children's own actions and the actions of those around then shape these pathways. With a focus on demographic changes taking place in the U.S., the volume also maps how experiences of diversity - reflecting culture, ethnicity, gender, and social class - matter for children's life contexts and options." "The book is intended for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, as well as students in psychology, sociology, and education."--Jacket.