Understanding Teenagers' Experiences of Reading Fiction

Abstract

Research illustrates that the teenage years are associated with a lack of reading engagement, as reading enjoyment and frequency of reading decline from childhood into early adolescence (e.g., Clark et al., 2023 ). However, this is not the case for all young teenagers: many continue to read and report a broad range of rich and diverse reading experiences. In this chapter, we will share the results from a project which sought to understand avid teenage readers&s; reading experiences, based on interviews carried out with 37 readers (27 female, 10 male) aged 12–14, from two secondary schools. Thematic analysis illustrated that different genres of narrative fiction offered readers different types of reading experiences, for example, enjoyment, immersion, escapism and learning. Interestingly, while specific genres of narrative fiction were generally found to lead to similar reading experiences (e.g., fantasy – escapism, comedy – entertainment), readers&s; own lives and personal experiences also influenced their experiences with different text types. Indeed, readers described actively constructing experiences beyond the text by using their imagination, immersing themselves in the story, and experiencing escapism. As the same story can be perceived differently by different readers, this chapter will explore how book genre, and teenage readers&s; own interactions with a book, can influence their fiction book reading experiences.