Kyle Spencer takes one for the team and dives deep into the conservative youth movement and the work of its leaders Charlie Kirk, Candace Owens, and Cliff Maloney. I don't tend to go for books so overtly about the current political moment because they tend to quickly lose relevance. However, this book came highly recommended and with a degree of local interest.

As expected, Raising Them Right reads as a book written by a journalist, and at times I lost interest in the long list of names, places, organizations, events, and dollar signs. However, all are important in understanding that young voters haven’t swung right by coincidence. The author’s portraits of Charlie and Cliff are unflattering and honest. I never found myself surprised at their misbehavior and, in Cliff’s case, crimes. Her portrayal of Candace Owens’ career proves more insightful for me, shining a light on black conservatism and the ways this influencer was able and encouraged by the right to cash in on it. Spencer provides a comprehensive overview of what the right is doing and how much they are willing to pay to mobilize young people, but she doesn’t offer much in the way of solutions (a tall order, I know).

I originally wanted to rate the book 3 stars, but then I realized my issue was only reading it too late. It’s a depressing and angering read in 2025, but I think if I had read it in 2022 I could’ve saved myself some heartache in the last election.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!

Really fascinating and informative. Written with care and extreme intelligence. Would recommend to anyone trying to understand how the right sinks. into the minds of young people.

This book was incredibly interesting. I feel like I learned a lot even though I feel like this space in the book world can be pretty saturated. I loved it.

There is an entire movement in conservative politics in the US dedicated to recruiting and capitalizing on young voters. This book delves into that world; the major players, the money, and the tactics.
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The first half of this book blew me away. It is so super readable. Spencer tracks three major players; Charlie Kirk, Cliff Maloney, and Candace Owens. I loved learning their backstories and their nuanced and differing approaches. I didn’t know about the way the money flows and the years long history of the GOP recruiting and training the next generation of supporters and pols. Really fascinating stuff.
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The second half of the book strays from the book’s thesis and ends up recounting recent politic events (January 6th, COVID, George Floyd…) without a clear connection to the ultraconservative youth movement. It becomes sort of generally about the GOP at large. This leads to the back half feeling unspecific and more of a recap than an investigation. The writing is still solid and accessible, but the topics are considerably less scrutinized and researched.

In Raising Them Right, Kyle Spencer delivers a fantastic journalistic study of the birth of the youth side of the far right and the individuals who helped create this brand new political front.

Spencer brings us into the lives of Charlie Kirk, Candace Owens and Cliff Maloney and how their activism and right ideas have helped create a youth front for the modern Republican Party. Spencer allows us to see the lives of these individuals and how their experiences helped lead them into the group and political stance they are now a part of.

Kyle Spencer’s Raising Them Right is a great political analysis that reads like a great Netflix doc!

This book is only a hit piece against Turning Point USA and is not worth your time to read. Political assassination books are so passe. Only the NY Times prints this sort of crap.