Growing up causes a lot of changes in our teenage lives. We get more responsibilities, more homework, and we become busier overall. Because of this, many of us stop doing some of the things we used to enjoy—like reading a book for fun and pleasure.

And while this may not seem like a big deal, the fact that reading for pleasure is becoming less and less popular among adolescents, is worrying for many reasons.

The New Yorker‘s David Denby reports that a “recent summary of studies cited by Common Sense Media indicates that American teen-agers are less likely to read ‘for fun’ at seventeen than at thirteen.”

So this article aims to explore and help advocate for reading books for the sheer pleasure of it, especially for high school students.

Why Reading Books is Vital

There are many benefits to reading, especially during our teenage years. Our brains develop until the age of 25, and it is important to help it do so. Reading exercises our brain muscles, helping us to become more attentive, making it easier for us to concentrate. It also helps to sharpen our memory. The thought that goes into reading, for example, detecting the characters, setting, and conflicts, makes reading a brain-stimulating activity.

Reading also increases our vocabulary and understanding of sentence structure.

According to the International Literacy Association, the research shows “that children who read at least twenty minutes a night most often perform on or above grade level in language arts.”

We can learn a lot of new words and methods of expressing ourselves, so when it comes to writing on our own, it’s easier to put our speech into written words.

And finally, books can open our minds to all kinds of different topics and experiences. This not only makes us more aware of worldwide events and history, but it gives us important perspective.

“Reading is a way of building up our empathy,” says AISB Librarian Cristina Cuzuc. “We as readers put ourselves in the characters’ shoes, and we experience the same things as our character does.”

The Decline in Reading Books

Despite all the benefits of reading, the number of people that still read books for pleasure is in decline. This is because of how smartphone apps have been designed to be highly addictive, and how it doesn’t leave any time to focus our attention spans on other activities such as reading an actual book.

“It’s very likely that teenagers, attached to screens of one sort or another, read more words than they ever have in the past,” reports Denby, writing in The New Yorker. “But they often read scraps, excerpts, articles, parts of articles, messages, pieces of information from everywhere and from nowhere. It’s likely that they are reading fewer books.”

The Bite conducted a survey of AISB’s secondary students from grades 6-11, asking them about their reading habits. When asked how many books they read this year, 25% said they read 1-3 books.

Another 25% said they read 4-6. Several had read zero, and few had read more than six.

This is a low amount, especially since often at least three books are assigned every year within the curriculum in English Language & Literature and other language classes. 

Over 50 percent of students surveyed claimed they sometimes, but rarely, read the assigned books in classes. 

The survey asked how many of the respondents read the books assigned in classes, and 54.2% said they “sometimes, but rarely” do.

These statistics show how dismissed reading has become, even when it is mandatory.

Building a Reading Culture at AISB

When I asked MYP English and Journalism teacher Chuck Adams if this was due to age, he said he thought it had more to do with “the fact that as one ages external pressures build on one’s available free time, whether it’s academic or social or, eventually, work.”

He adds, “As you move up to high school, you have to make conscious decisions to carve out time and space for absorbing complicated texts, whereas in elementary and middle school time was carved out for you during independent reading times” often called Silent-Sustained-Reading (SSR), or during whole-class read alouds for core texts. For example, in most middle school English classes students get at least 10 minutes per day to read silently during SSR time.

Over the past eight years at AISB, Adams has witnessed the drop-off in teens reading for pleasure, but places the blame mostly on screen addictions as well as the homework load for students after school.

So, this school year he is trying an experiment for his grade 9 English students: All curriculum classwork, including reading required texts, will be completed during instructional time at school, and students’ primary home learning task each evening will be reading self-selected books for pleasure.

Students will maintain records of what they have read, Adams says, and are currently reading, and the only way they will be assessed is on the strength of their book talks, given at least three times per school year.

“Whether they closely read the book or just read it as a wind-down before bedtime or read it with a friend or skim the book or just research the book using ChatGPT will ultimately be revealed by how authentically they present what they loved about the book, read a passage from it, and respond to questions in their book talk.”

Chuck Adams, English 9 Teacher

“The goal,” Adams says, “is to bring back a love of books, and give some choice and voice back to the upper Secondary students.”

[Editor’s Note: This is also one reason for the biannual Drop Everything and Read the Bite Magazine event. The next one will be held first block on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025.]

Reading Recommendations

Now that you’ve read about all the benefits of reading, hopefully you’ll want to check out a book! Here are five of the most popular books available at AISB’s library, but you can visit this link to see what else is available.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Goodreads says: “Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.”

Bloom by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau

Goodreads says: “Now that high school is over, Ari is dying to move to the big city with his ultra-hip band—if he can just persuade his dad to let him quit his job at their struggling family bakery. Though he loved working there as a kid, Ari cannot fathom a life wasting away over rising dough and hot ovens. But while interviewing candidates for his replacement, Ari meets Hector, an easygoing guy who loves baking as much as Ari wants to escape it. As they become closer over batches of bread, love is ready to bloom . . . that is, if Ari doesn’t ruin everything.”

96 Miles by J.L. Esplin

Goodreads says: “The Lockwood brothers are supposed to be able to survive anything. Their dad, a hardcore survivalist, has stockpiled enough food and water on their isolated Nevada ranch to last for months. But when they are robbed at gunpoint during a massive blackout while their dad is out of town, John and Stew must walk 96 miles in the stark desert sun to get help–and they have only 3 days before their time runs out….”

The Line Tender by Kate Allen

Goodreads says: “The Line Tender is the story of Lucy, the daughter of a marine biologist and a rescue diver, and the summer that changes her life. If she ever wants to lift the cloud of grief over her family and community, she must complete the research her late mother began. She must follow the sharks.”

New Kid by Jerry Craft

Goodreads says: “Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade.

As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?”

Have your own recommended reading lists? Post them in the comments below!