How to get teenager to read

If he’s enjoying The Walking Dead, you should try pointing him towards the sort of ‘literate’ comic books Vertigo used to publish. If he’s mature enough to enjoy Sylvia Plath, then he’s mature enough to enjoy Promethea or Sandman.

Sympathizing heavily here. My two teens also don't seem to like any book, while I love books and just don't have the time for them. I still read every day, we have loads of interesting books at home and there are just so many great books for teens/young adults available now. I've even offered them a cash reward (euro 30 for every book from 200 pages onwards). My 13 year old is still reading Isadora Moon books - which doesn't seem age appropriate but I'm taking it as a small win. My 15yo is occasionally flipping (backwards) through some manga but that's it. I'm still reading to my two younger boys but also there not much interest. By the time I was 15, I'd finished all the books in our (admittedly rather small) local library. It makes me really sad that none of them share my passion.

My youngest son has never read a book,his year 6 teacher said he would struggle at Grammar school. He is 24 , Achieved first at Uni studying Economics and earning a fortune..it really doesn’t matter. Myself and my other children enjoy reading,but that’s our choice.

I think you can do all the right things to encourage reading, read to them when they are small, lots of books at home, trips to book shops and the library, being a reader yourself etc, but books and reading just aren't for everyone. I have 5 dc, 3 are avid readers (as am i), the other two wouldn't pick up a book for love nor money.

My techy son enjoyed audio books, and still does. He 'read' lots of classics by listening to them, often alongside doing practical things like making lego when he was young or building construciton kits or doing other practical engineering projects. He chose to save his physical book reading energy for non-fiction science and tech stuff.

Another idea is to listen to audio books together on long car journeys - lighter and/or funny ones were always popular (Gerald Durrell 'My Family and Other Animals', Jerome K Jerome's Three Men in a Boat, Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole series etc). It was lovely to share the laughter. I think it's important that reading can be seen to be just for fun and not for school/exams or 'becoming well-read'.

You need to accept that your son is his own person with his own separate interests - he is not an extension of you. You have given him plenty of opportunities to experience the pleasure of a good book. It is now up to him whether or not he chooses to pursue that pleasure or whether he wishes to spend his time on other things. Respect his choices and don't try to force something that should be done for the joy of it.

I was an avid reader as a kid, and I carried on reading through the teenage years. My equally able dsis simply didn't enjoy it. Same upbringing, different interests and priorities. My own dd was like me as a child, stopped reading for a few years as a younger teen and then rediscovered it as an older teen. We are all different.

Honestly, just leave him be. If you try to push it, you may end up putting him off for life. If he wants to read, he will.

You don't. They have TikTok now.

DS is 15 and is predicted a 9 in English Lit, it's his favourite subject but he won't pick up a book.

I continue to suggest books. He continues to mock me.

I hope that one day he might

DD won't touch a novel but loves play scripts and poetry books.

Me too - read to her since she was a week old and she always used to love story time. Is a good reader but chooses not to do it unless it is a certain series that she will binge read. Like you say, too many distractions now.

Will he let you read to him? I read to my teenagers at that age - things like Frankenstein, 1984, Catcher in the Rye and Clockwork Orange. It meant we could discuss the books as we read them and they were exposed to books they wouldn’t have read otherwise (they didn’t read on their own though).

You've provided an opportunity to read avidly, but he's not taking up this opportunity to the extent that you would like him to.

Suppose he chooses to do more reading than he currently is, that necessarily means also choosing to do less of something that he's currently doing. How is he choosing to spend his time? What would he be giving up or deprioritising to get through the volume of reading you would like him to? By the way, it sounds like he's doing pretty well on the back of how he's choosing to spend his time - student of the year 3 times?

Suppose he did lots of reading, but in a slightly different way than you'd imagined - instead of discussing reading with you, and reading side by side with you, he chose to read alone in his room, and became an avid booktok-er. How would you feel about that?

The next bit may sound harsh (sorry....):

It's not a child's responsibility to become the person that one of their parents once imagined they would become.

He is a fabulous son. He has other interests. He is well on the way to becoming his own, fabulous, adult self.

He sounds like a fine lad. Enjoy him.

I feel your pain, OP. I'm an avid reader and I hoped that my three DC would be the same. I read to them a lot when they were small, I take them to bookshops and we have loads of books in the house. They're teens now and they all read a bit, but none of them love it the way I do. I do think it's partly to do with phones, they have a lot more distractions than we used to.

You have a library? A library in your home? When can I come to stay?

Have you tried journaling your books? It might be something he would like or you could do a joint one with suggestions for each other to read.

Put a serious time limit on his mobile, the TV and any other electronics. That will result in a lot more time to kill which he might hopefully with reading.

I think you need to take a step back and appreciate what sounds like a fantastic young man.

My DD never read much at all until she was 24/25 - now she reads a lot and a massive variety.

As with all teen things - the more you push, the more likely he is to not want to do it.

My 13yo hates reading, always has. His dad and I both studied literature to masters level, also a house full of books. Nothing has been off-limits to him. Zero interest in Harry Potter or anything in alternative universes (Discworld, for example). But is currently devouring the graphics novels of The Walking Dead! (Not watching the series).
Meh. If he's reading, he's reading.
Since his birth I can't stomach fiction,weirdly. So it's history for me. I'm reading The Fatal Shore as I remember my mum had it in hard back and I have a sibling in Australia. I've read DS some interesting excerpts, and maybe when he's 40-something, he'll read it himself.

Unfortunately, your OP reads like a faux humblebrag.

What about audio books or podcasts? I don't know many teenagers into reading but I do know plenty who listen to podcasts.

How to get teenager to read....?
"He's is currently reading We have always lived in the castle and says he likes it".
So he is reading....you don't need to get him to read!!!

I love reading but you can't force people to be what you have decided for them

I'd have said the OPs DS is a reader, compared to the majority of other teens!

You've provided abundant 'food' OP, but his appetites aren't the same as yours. Maybe you're missing out on some of the other things he prefers to spend his time on?

You can't force someone to like reading. Just let him know you can get him books if he wants them.

Dd read non-stop from when she learnt in school until around age 10-11. She'd be the kid with five books on the go at once. She walked around the house with a book in hand. Asked for book tokens for Xmas presents. Read the entire Harry Potter series during lockdown. Left primary school with a reading age of 17. Then she just stopped.

We tried taking screens away, incentivising her, making books available, trips to book shops (which she used to love) etc. Didn't work.

She does her homework and is in top sets. I'm content with that for now.

I think some people just aren't readers tbh and that's OK. My oldest isn't a big book person, though I read constantly. They've just done fabulously in GCSEs without being into reading so I don't push it.

Just emphasising my love of reading. He is really clever, a straight A student in all subjects and has won student of the year 3 years running. His teachers comment on how well read he is at parents evening, I just don't get it.

What is there to 'get'? He's doing great, he's just not the same as you!

I used to read voraciously (not so much nowadays). DH reads (or now because of eyesight mostly listens) widely but nearly all nonfiction. DD - simply never much liked reading, though she loved being read to into her teens, end enjoyed various factual books, 'fun maths' type of things. She's a Cambridge graduate with a wide range of interests, as far as I can see she doesn't read much now except a bit of detective fiction. I used to fret about her not reading ... I really shouldn't have!

Hi OP, my age 14 son is similar. High achieving academically esp in maths, but also in English, despite seemingly not reading apart from the set books at school…I also don’t get it! Seems a bit unfair. Like you, I’m a big reader (English lit degree etc).

However, this summer he found a series he loved and he’s had his nose in those books for the past few weeks - hoovering them up.

tbf he's done this occasionally in the past (eg Harry Potter). Seems to me that a series is the way forward with him, and perhaps many of the more mathsy type /non-readery boys?

as far as I’m concerned I don’t care what the series even is, I’m just happy he is reading.

Fwiw it’s historical fiction that he’s reading atm - but not high brow or even anything classic.

PS My husband (also a reader) did say he only really clicked with reading around 14, so this proves to me it (the reading bug) can happen at any age! And maybe it’s yet to happen with your son. But sounds like you’re doing all the right things to allow it to happen!