2000s All American Aesthetic
What books and movies feature a 2000s All American Aesthetic? I’m here with lists of all the Y2K movies and YA books that feature sports teams and cheerleaders, drama kids, and competitions of all kinds!
First off, did you take my quiz and find out your 2000s Movie Aesthetic? I recommend it, but you can love ALL the aesthetics and switch them up, Taylor Swift style!
Books and Movies with a 2000s All American Aesthetic
YA Books With the 2000s All American Aesthetic
Y2K YA was all about the Breakfast Club concept of American high school life. These narratives were centered around groups of cliques: the smart kids, the athletes, the nerds, the Goths, the kids who snuck out and smoked under the bleachers. Like High School Musical, these books explored the connections between these groups.
Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally
Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally is a 2011 book about a girl who just wants to play football on the boy’s team. Of course, in her small town, that’s more complicated as you’d expect. This is a great story about following your dreams and a wonderful romance too. This book was nominated for a 2012 Goodreads choice award.
You can read my review of Catching Jordan here.
playing hurt by Holly
Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler is an angsty YA Contemporary romance about a female basketball player who meets a guy in rehab (the physical therapy kind).
Loved this one and you can read my full review of Playing Hurt here!
now that we’ve covered the athletic side of the all-american aesthetic, let’s look at the performance side
High School Musical is sort of a remake of Grease. Student Troy and Gabriella meet on vacation, then realize she’s the new girl at his school. He’s an athlete who sort of wants to sing in the musical. She’s a smart kid who also loves singing. Can they break out of their cliques and find true love?
Noteworthy by Riley Redgate
Noteworthy by Riley Redgate is a story of a girl with a contralto voice who decides to audition for the acapella group at her fancy private school. The male acapella group.
Like She’s the Man, this early 2000s book was written before gender fluidity and gender presentation started to be an open topic of conversation, but this book still has a lot to say about gender (and ethnic and class) stereotypes. You can check out my review of Noteworthy here.
The Only Thing Worse Than Me is You
The Only Thing Worse Than Me is You by Lily Anderson is a hilarious YA Contemporary Rivals romance. The rivalry is as cutthroat as Sharpay and Ryan’s evil plans in high school musical.
2000s Movies with the All American Aesthetic
The iconic movie in this category, I think, is…..
High School Musical (2006)
The struggle is real. Can you be an athlete AND love to sing and dance? YES. The connection between the two is that the 2000s All American Aesthetic is about the athletes and the drama kids. They are both performers in their own right!
Bring it On (2000)
This literal Y2K movie focused on race and class relations as the cheer captain at the upper middle class school has to wrestle with the idea that her squad’s routines were stolen from the squad on the other side of town. Watch it here!
Save the Last Dance (2001)
Again, performance themes. A girl who is trying to get into Julliard falls in love with a guy who’s has a tough time in life. Watch it here!
Want to see ALL the 2000s Movie Aesthetics? Take the quiz and find out which one you’re loving most today!
