The Reading Lives of Teens

“The Reading Lives of Teens: Research and Practice arrives at a time when young people’s engagement in reading is thought to be slipping, even to the point of disappearing in some instances. However, the chapter authors in this edited volume dig deep into the research on what literacy practices sustain and motivate youth living in a digital era. As a consequence, key take-aways from engaging with this book may lead to an alternative narrative—one that pushes back on the negative to champion a new view on what teens are doing in the name of reading.” -Donna Alvermann, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus, University of Georgia in Athens, USA. “Accessible and engaging, this book is essential reading for all educators, researchers and policy makers committed to motivating teen readers. Drawing on their own studies, the 25 contributors from across the globe expand our understanding of adolescents’ diverse habits, practices and identities as readers. Agency, autonomy, relationships and informal interactions around texts surface as significant, and many authors offer ways forward to redress the distressing decline in reading for pleasure at this critical age. Highly recommended.” -Professor Teresa Cremin, The Open University, UK. “Loh’s The Reading Lives of Teens: Research and Practice is well-timed for addressing how reading among teens has changed in the 21st century. Providing authentic accounts of young people’s reading experience underpinned by theoretical discourses, the authors add to the critical conversation about volition, reading choice and the sustainability of literacy in new times, showing that even in the face of change, some enduring features of reading remain. This book is an important resource for anyone concerned about the past, present and future trajectories of literacy among teens and young adults in both eastern and western nations.” -Dr Chong Su Li, author of Charting an Asian Trajectory for Literacy Education: Connecting Past, Present and Future Literacies, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia.