This chapter argues that the genre expresses the USA’s unique sense of youth and potential through young protagonists on a formative journey. It proposes that there are two distinct strands of American Bildungsroman. One, exemplified by the work of Horatio Alger, celebrates the nation’s promise of life, liberty and happiness (enshrined in the Declaration of Independence) as well as the American Dream that promises success and prosperity to all. The second reveals that the nation’s assurances do not hold for many young Americans. The chapter focuses on this second strand and analyses representations of white boys and girls of all classes, whose stories reveal the hollowness of America’s pledges to its citizens. It also discusses coming-of-age novels depicting social groups typically marginalised and dispossessed in the USA, including African and Native Americans. It concludes by showing that even a privileged white boy like Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye (1951) is unimpressed by American ideals and definitions of success.