The prepubescent children of days gone by have given way to a cooler kid ”” the tween ”” who aspires to teenhood but is not quite there yet.
Tweens are in-between ”” generally the 8-to-12 set. The U.S. Census estimates that in 2009, tweens are about 20 million strong and projected to hit almost 23 million by 2020.
Among them now are Malia Obama, at 10 already a tween, and sister Sasha, who turns 8 this year. With the Obama daughters in the White House, the nation’s attention will focus even more on this emerging group ”” and the new “first tweens” will likely be high-profile representatives of their generation.