Anyone got a teen who reads?

[FreakStar]

My DD is 14 and used to be an avid and able reader. However, since starting secondary it's become increasingly difficult to get her to read until now she never reads at all. Not magazines, not online news, not books, nothing! I've bought her books for Christmas, I've taken her to the library and the bookshop where she's picked out some books, she's ordered books from Amazon but they all sit on the shelf untouched. We've tried backing off, we've tried scheduling it in, we take her devices away before bed in the hope she'll read in bed before she turns her light off etc. Her English teacher has recommended books and said she can borrow her copy, still no reading. 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. DH and I both read, I don't understand how it can be boring if you are engrossed in a book. reading to me if knowledge and insight, and in my mind anyone who says reading is boring is usually uneducated. I don't want her to be one of those people who never reads. What can I do?

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!

Hmm, I've always taken her to libraries and bookshops and just gone with what she's shown interest in. The only classic literature she has read is for school and it didn't really interest her. She's always preferred fiction and her favourites over the years have always been fantasy/distopian type adventure stories. She's never been keen on non-fiction and fact type books- she's not a fact type of girl- she's creative and a bit of a dreamer. She likes art and the only non-fiction she really likes are craft type book with instructions on how to make things or cook things. She likes horror films- and wanted to read IT a couple of years ago but I thought it was far too graphic for then 13 year old. Maybe something similar but aimed at her age group would appeal. I've suggested she creates an amazon wishlist but she says she'd prefer to plough on with the Phillip Pullman she's started. I'm just leaving it for now. Don't think it's lack of inspiration- think her head is elsewhere right now- she spends all her free time doing artwork or on her phone looking at pinterest for ideas- including creating mood boards for a bedroom redecoration.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

@cakeisalwaystheanswer I don’t think it’s snobbiness that gives importance to reading. Reading a wide range of books gives the reader more than just entertainment.
There’s been lots of research that shows it improves literacy, thinking skills, concentration, empathy plus it might be good for reducing stress.
You don’t get that from reading memes or snapchat.
But each to their own. I don’t think you can force kids to read if they really don’t want to but it’s worth trying.

no point in me forcing them as it should be a pleasurable activity. They have their whole lives ahead of them to come to books and if they don't it's only their loss.
I'd leave her be

This ^

I too thought the comment about GCSEs was worth picking up on. She seems young to be worrying about that - particularly as she seems to be doing well at school - so I would want to talk about where that thought has come from, and what is worrying her.

I can't really advise on how to encourage them to read as all my 3 did, and still do love having their noses in a book. One of them has always enjoyed audio books, so that might be worth a try with your dd ?

She's going into year 11 in September- she's an August birthday, and school have planned mock exams in November which she's has been told to revise for over summer- that's where it's coming from!

@cakeisalwaystheanswer I'm not sure I agree- yes, watching a really good film is very enriching too- but what she looks at on tik tok and snapchat definitely isn't in the same way. I think social media and media in general is also important as it connects her with friends and the the world we're living in, but I thoroughly believe that literature expands your inner world, enlightening your mind in different cultures, times, ideas, imagination and emotion, as well as enriching your vocabulary and creating awareness of the possibilities out there. I'm sure avid readers have a different perspective on the world than people I know who don't read.

My DD, currently Yr11, is an avid reader. When younger she read Jacqueline Wilson-esque type stuff alongside ‘classics- Anna Karenina in Yr8.
Having said that, reading for pleasure tailed off in Yr10 when GCSE work ramped up alongside an ever increasing social life, both in the virtual and in the ‘real’ world!
When Yr11 came to its sudden end, she started reading for pleasure again.
The transition from Yr10 to Yr11 can be an anxious time as mocks and the exams proper are ‘just around the corner’
DD spent some of last summer organising her Yr10 subject files, making sure end of topic notes were written up etc which helped towards mock revision.
Perhaps once your DD feels ‘on top of’ the work done to date she will pick up a book again?
If not, it may be next summer like my DD.

DD is an avid reader, but she does wax and wane with it and has had periods where she just doesn't read. She's also doing her GCSEs and English lit has not helped at all, nothing like spending your time picking apart Orwell and Shakespeare (both of which she hates) to put you off and she finds she doesn't have a lot of time to read for fun.

Which Philip Pullman is it? Because while I really enjoy some of his books, I found the Book of Dust a real slog! So if it's that one, I can sympathise with her not enjoying it.

I don't know what to suggest really, but when I did my GCSEs and was a bit worried, rather than anything new that I'd have to concentrate on I comfort read Dick King Smith, Ballet Shoes, Hortible Histories etc — I had younger siblings, so they were all still on the bookcase. It was a nice break from studying To Kill a Mockingbird, The Crucible, Macbeth and Oliver Twist in English! Thoroughly miserable set of books.

The only other thing I can think of is maybe something that's written as a diary? Each entry is nice and short, so it's very easy to read "just one more".

Does she have a certain topic that she enjoys? I have always been an on and off reader- I go weeks without picking on up and then read 10 books in 2 weeks. I love history (particularly WWII) and spy books/political thrillers and, for me, those stories are even more entertaining than television or social media. Don't force her into anything, but perhaps you and your husband could read a book about the general topic in which she is interested, discuss it, and encourage her to read indirectly.

Thanks for all the suggestions. @ProggyMat thanks for your advice- it's reassuring. DD has worked really hard through lockdown and organised all her work files and done revision on top of school work set- she's pretty conscientious and I think she is a little anxious about looming exams in September. She's reading The Amber Spyglass which is her choice and she's actually read every night this week. She's doing to please me at the moment, but maybe it will get her back into books. Anyway, I'm not going to pressure her- it's the holidays and if she reads she reads and if she doesn't I do feel reassured by the comments here that because she once was an enthusiastic reader she might be again one day.

I think forcing her would just ruin books for her as then she would see reading as something she has to do rather than something she wants to. I also think that even if she is good at picking her books, maybe she has not found the right one yet. My DD hadn't been reading as much as she used to but when she found the right one she was rooted on her seat and finished it in one day. So I think it's just about patience, reading will always be a leisurely activity for my DD and myself and I think it will be for your daughter.

Also you said she read the hunger games when she was 11 well I would recommend;

The selection_ Its about 35 girls competing for a chance of a lifetime; marriage with the prince. Although it sounds highly sexist the main protagonist is anything but a timid, dumb girl I need of the male leads help.

The Girl Who Dared to think_ Twenty-year-old Liana Castell must be careful what she thinks. Her life is defined by the number on her wristband... a rating out of ten awarded based on her usefulness and loyalty to the Tower, and monitored by a device in her skull. A device that reports forbidden thoughts.

Left of field question - but what is her eye sight like? I remember I stopped reading for two years during my A-levels (bad timing!) I needed glasses but I didn't pick up on it and no one else did. I was finding reading increasingly hard work and put it down to boring text books putting me off in general. As soon as I got glasses I was an avid reader again. Just a thought.

Do you go into bookshops so she can pick up a book and browse? I find that if we go into Waterstones or WH Smiths and just spend a bit of time browsing, my kids nearly always walk away with something. There's something about being able to touch and smell the book that can bring you back to enjoying a book I have found, esp for younger ones.

If she likes bedroom redecoration, could you look at some interior design books? The theory behind it about lighting and colours and spacing etc? Or textile books and textile history books? V&A patterns? Liberty's textile history? Something that's reading but informative and a big step up. Sometimes teens like to be all knowledgeable about a certain thing if you can find the thing that piques their interest.

It's the internet that does it. DD has made an effort over lockdown - has listened to several Jane Austen books on audio. Read a couple of actual books, but is a slow reader. I'd go with audio.

She's had her eyes tested and does were glasses and we regularly go to bookshops and the library. She's happy to choose books- just doesn't read them- can't seem to get into anything. I agree- the internet is a big distraction!

I answered this thread a while ago and it’s just occurred to me that I haven’t read a book for a month. Pre-Lockdown I read at least one, maybe two a week, I’m pretty voracious, usually.

I’ve lost my mojo, can’t concentrate. So I’ve followed my own advice, just got Audible and downloaded a book, went for a walk and I’m four chapters in!

The great thing about audio books is that you can listen to them whilst doing art / craft activities, and the benefits are still there of becoming more familiar with literature, broadening language. With audio books it is also more likely that you will tolerate a different from usual genre so can be really good for broadening interests too.

At the moment many libraries are offering a click and collect service, and depending on how well stocked your local libraries are, they may have YA books on cd, if you don’t want to jump at the audible subscription.

You’ve just reminded me if you’re a member of the library you can download books free to lots of devices using Borrowbox . It brilliant!

You can also download lots of magazines for adults and children.