Over the last years, the hashtag #BookTok has been viewed more than 100 billion times on TikTok. Hence, both scholars and practitioners have plead for integrating #BookTok in the literacy classroom, expressing the hope that this digital subculture might flip adolescents' conceptions of reading and improve their reading motivation. This article…

Individuals who self-identify as poor readers can have a range of reading experiences, practices, and abilities. The author examined how adolescents and adults who self-identified as poor readers (a) found enjoyment in reading an interactive fiction app, (b) why they chose to engage with a text-based app, and (c) if their involvement with the app…

Outside of compulsory schooling, adolescents become more responsible for maintaining their reading lives together, which is consequential for educators wishing to foster student identities as lifelong readers, writers, and digital designers. The authors describe the role of affect in a youth-driven, online participatory culture, BookTube, in which…

The authors examined the cross-cultural validation of a Chinese version of the Survey of Adolescent Reading Attitudes (CSARA) in a sample of 524 students in grades 7-9 in China. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that Chinese adolescents' attitudes toward reading can be measured in four dimensions--attitudes toward academic print, academic…

In this practitioner inquiry, the teacher researcher found that a culture of high-stakes testing had pervaded her diverse, urban seventh-grade students' conceptions of reading; students associated reading with tests and skills-based worksheets rather than pleasure. Using students' voices, passions, and interests, the teacher researcher broadened…

In this commentary, the author examines some contributions of the New London Group's theory of a pedagogy of multiliteracies, as well as recent critiques of how this framework has been applied in literacy research and instructional practice. She draws on her research with transnational youths--young people who claim multiple national affiliations…

Increasing recreational reading is a priority in a climate of growing adolescent aliteracy. Raising the social appeal of books has been identified as one potential avenue for arresting this trend. An understanding of the current social acceptability of book reading amongst contemporary adolescents is important in informing an effective approach to…

While doubts surround relations between adolescents and books, Heath argues that today's adolescents seek out reading opportunities that develop and deepen their special interests. Wanting to know and do more than their parents, young people prize learning on their own time to advance skills, ways of knowing, and peer relationships. Doing so, they…

National surveys reveal that graphic novels are perhaps the most popular recreational reading choice for adolescents--especially among boys. Graphic novels cover numerous topics, and this variety, along with their enormous popularity, makes them enticing and useful resources for teaching and learning in virtually any classroom. Since the…

Michael W. Smith, a professor in Temple University's College of Education, focuses his research on how experienced readers read and talk about texts as well as what motivates adolescents' reading and writing in and out of school. He sees the recent research on adolescents' out-of-school literacies as a challenge to literacy educators to look at…

Botswana's reading culture has captured the attention of reading experts in the country for more than two decades. The survey reported in this article involved 121 junior students (aged 12 to 15 years) from two private and two government-aided secondary schools. The results indicate that a majority of the students read during school holidays; that…

Today's adolescents must meet increasing demands for high levels of literacy. However, low self-efficacy and motivation for reading often prohibit adolescents from developing and sustaining positive reading habits. Consequently, educators must provide opportunities for students to experience reading as a rewarding and useful endeavor. Research…

How much time do college students spend reading for recreational and academic purposes? Do Internet and television use displace or interfere with reading time? In this study, we used an innovative time-diary survey method to explore whether the time students spend on the Internet or watching television displaces time that would be spent reading…

Teaching for social responsibility should be one of the vital aims of our schools. Young adult literature offers an authentic, meaningful, and critical way to teach for social responsibility. This article offers an overview of the different elements of social responsibility and some young adult novels and graphic novels that could be used to teach…

Research indicates that there is a strong relationship between leisure reading and school achievement, but the leisure reading habits of urban adolescents have rarely been studied. From their investigation of the leisure reading habits of 584 urban minority middle school students, the authors identify these key findings: (1) More than two-thirds…