Anyone got a teen who reads?

OP do you think this could be turning into a bit of a power struggle with your DD? I do think teens go through phases with most things.

What would happen if you didn’t mention anything at all about reading for a while?

I had similar issue with my DC, when she transitioned from primary to secondary. There’s so much going on at that stage.

There is a great deal of snobiness attached to reading. In the past reading novels were for entertainment, they were just stories, often serialised and they were not regarded as educational but were just for fun. They were probably seen in the same was as we consider films or even a TV series today. But somehow we have put books on a pedestal and we have decided that reading a novel is more worthy than watching a film of the same story. If Shakespeare was alive today I think he would be writing memes and creating intricate plots for video games.

Your DD probably reads snapchat messages, instagram posts, memes, tik toks and whatever else has been invented that my DCs haven't explained to me yet. They are all forms of entertainment just like novels and my only reservation would be the short attention span they require, but then I hate short stories.

My 14 yo DS is a very enthusiastic reader, much as he loves gaming. At the moment he is rereading Terry Pratchett in story arc order, but apparently is going through Dickens next. He has a Kindle linked to my account, and I put anything I think he'll like on it, plus whatever he asks for.
He gets kicked off devices at 8pm and then reads till bed, so less than he reads in term time.
In the car, I like to listen to audio books, and he'll often start off playing on his phone and then put it down to listen.
DH and I are both massive readers, and I think having instant access to so many books electronic and physical helps as there is no commitment or pressure

Oh yes I loved Stephen king too! They were impossible to stop reading!

Horror is a great go to for teens, I powered my way through Stephen King, Dean Koontz and James Herbert from around 13 - I am not scarred.

Does she still want to read IT?
I’d let her crack on if she’s still interested.
I promised ds that he could read Stephen King at 14 as he’d been asking since 12!
In the last year since he turned 14, he’s read The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Cujo, IT, The Outsiders plus some other horror and dystopian stuff.
His English language and writing seems to have improved since reading more adult books too.

Tbh, it doesn’t actually sound as though her reading tastes have ever been particularly wide at all, @FreakStar. You have only described typical girls’ pre-teen exploring feelings books and fantasy fiction. She may well feel bored with pretend feeling-exploration and fantasy and be more interested in her own feelings and real life at the moment, so not inclined to try more of the same. She probably is also just not keen on reading per se for the time being, as she’s at an age for navel gazing!

Has your dd genuinely read widely in the past? Eg historical fact or fiction, newspapers, detective novels, classic literature, political fact and fiction, thrillers, spy novels, myths, books about science, science fiction, books on psychology, biographies and autobiographies, etc? I have one child who always has his nose in a book. Another needs encouragement and has enjoyed the most bizarre and unpredictable range of books. I certainly didn’t expect him to devour translations of Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey, but children are full of surprises!

I don’t like the idea that there is ‘good’ reading and ‘bad’ reading or certain types of books you ‘should’ read. At this point if she was willing I would get her to try something different, a biography, like a previous poster said a Bill Bryson, a graphic novel, if she’s worried about reading detracting from GCSEs a book that links with one of her subjects but is more for enjoyment. How about a news based magazine or periodical just for her? It may be that the standard ya stuff just isn’t working for her at the moment. However if you thought she might still go for something in that genre that was binge worthy has she tried Karen McManus?

Agree, but then they are teens, turning into adults and, although you can push them to read literature for the purpose of completing their school work, you cannot force them to read what you want them to read for entertainment purposes.

Too much tech saps your attention span. Makes it much harder for kids to access harder lit, such as Victorian it American. Such a fucking shame. They expect things to start with a bang and go so fast that they forget to watch out for the slow joys of fiction.

My teen reads a lot, I thought he had lost interest in books around 12 when the Xbox/iPad took over but I have come to understand, in recent years, that although he put fiction books to the side, he is now reading a lot of history, politics, economics, sociology , science and picking up some literature about cinema classics all in the time I thought he was wasting in social media/ watching memes in the iPad.

So the moral of the story is, we sowed the seeds for reading, they are taking over their journey into other topics and platforms, all while we are thinking they are wasting their time.🙂

Criticism to the teacher, not to yourself.

My teens read and I think it’s because I just used to insist on 20 mins reading before bed every night from when they were young.
I used to tell them it was part of their homework as the school used to say it was something they should do.
I’ve never let them have phones at night and they leave them downstairs to charge. They willingly read now but I know if I let them have their phones, the reading would stop.
My ds has been reading horror since 14 and loves it.

one teacher told me..put their favourite program on.. mute the tv and put the subtitles on.. voila .. reading..

DD(12) doesn't read much.

Her English teacher (selective school) seemed unfazed and suggested that we made her download some book samples from Amazon onto a device (doesn't have to be a Kindle) and just give each book a 5-10 minute "try". It costs nothing and it might inspire her to ask for a book.

DD did love audiobooks for her Junior School years, using them to fall asleep, to the extent that she could recall huge chunks of books. We can download books from our library for free, so that might be worth a look? Maybe podcasts would be more of interest? There is such a variety out there. Or maybe some plays online?

Our family doesn't have too much stress in our lives, but we want to emerge from this crazy situation with our mental health intact(ish). I think I'd ease off a bit (but then, I am not in your shoes).

Don't chuck FitAttic at her just because she's switched off, I doubt a bit of incest rape is going to get her reading again.

Chances are books around her level are just boring now. The YA genre has been overtaken with 100 clones of the same dismal stories and its hard to find anything worth reading. I'm an avid reader, writer and literature graduate but am often astonished at the dross getting published to sell copies in Tesco rather than from any passionate author. No characters, only visual descriptions. No development. No one changes because 'fans' demand their 'faves' remain the same.

I went through a period at her age where I did not want to read 'adult' books, as the sex made me uncomfortable (I was being bullied at school for having little interest in 'boyfriends') and violence often very extreme. I re-read my old Malory Towers books for a while instead.

I got back into it for a decade or so but these days really struggle to find anything that's not a shite clone of some other moneymaker, although some indie publishers and crowd-funded titles have been very good. "Witchmark" by CL Polk was brilliant.

It's not a big deal. She'll go back to it someday.

I think often it's about not being able to find things that really grab them.
DS is a reader, like me, and will literally read anything- even receipts and cereal packets, his eyes are just drawn to text. DD reads fairly irregularly- she only likes specific types of stories, and is very reluctant to move outside her comfort zone. She sees reading as a punishment! She'll read books on gardening for hours though.

Agree about no tech time. DD is 13 and gets some time on her phone in the morning. After that, to do any more screens she has to do her chores, do some exercise, do something creative and read. Plus she has time limits on her phone.

And we all do minimal tech on Sundays.

So this morning I've told her I'd like her to spend time reading in the holiday which resulted in her crying and saying she'll fail her GCSEs if she has to read books and she doesn't enjoy reading and it's boring.

Have you picked up on her comment about failing her GCSEs - sounds to me as though there is some internal pressure she is feeling which means that she is worried about time and workload - the other comments are teenager waffle to cover up - the first seems more significant...

Perhaps suggest some adult (but appropriate) books. DS1 loved The Martian when he was about 13 and Ready Player One (great book - nothing like the movie)

We are usually a family who eat together (no tech at the table is our rule) and read the paper in the mornings and in the evenings eat together again some nights but then run off to own spaces but found it good to counter that at least one evening a week. The rest of the week we can be as slobbish as we like, except for DD who if she has got to a crucial bit in her book is now better than us at putting down her devices to read on.

I like the idea of the no tech time but how do you enforce it? DH is inseparable from his phone so he'd be my biggest problem...

My 13 yo DD loves Bill Bryson's books. Mostly because of the occasional swearing