READ TO GROW

Adults believe that young people and teenagers don’t read anymore. This issue has been discussed already; but we would like to give our opinion on the matter and show everybody that TEENAGERS READ! 

We would like to help other teens start reading, finding the habit of opening a book delightful. 

What causes us to read, in our opinion, is the possibility of taking a break from reality, living the life of other people, and imagining how serious our lives would be if we were similar to the characters in our book. When we read we are excited, we are happy. When you have an original book in your hands, it feels so good. You are fascinated with a story and want to read all day. 

The best of all is that, without knowing it, we are nurturing our lives for a better future. 

However, only 5% of the young students read for personal interest or pleasure. Very few find time to read something that is not related to school homework. 

We want to share what we like to read with you and to recommend books that can be as attractive to you as they are to us.

Feel free to leave a comment if you have read any of these books or would like to read one. Today, we bring you three different stories. 

GOOD MORNING, PRINCESS! By Blue Jeans

This book is about a group of friends who have known each other for more than two years and have never been separate… but things begin to change as they start having feelings that they never thought they were going to feel. 

THE DARK SIDE by Sally Green

This book is about a young man named Nathan Byrn, son of a White Witch and a black sorcerer. This makes him divided between light and darkness. Nathan decides to become the owner of his destiny and determine his road. This book is similar to the Harry Potter saga, with some originality in the powers that witches have.

THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner

It's about a young boy named Thomas who is trapped in a strange space surrounded by gigantic walls called "Area" and doesn’t know how he got there. Like him, there are more young people who do not know how they got there. Every morning a maze stone door opens and is closed at night. Every thirty days someone else arrives. A fact alters the routine of the place: a girl arrives with a message. 

Start reading!! See you next time!!!

Camila Falcón Díaz, Macarena Fernández and Carolina Izquierdo - 4th Year

DO TEENAGERS READ?

It's not strange to hear adults saying that 'the habit of reading is lost' and that 'teenagers are always using computers and mobile phones but NEVER pick up a book'. We bet you know what we are talking about, whether you are a teen or a grown up. 

But, is this really true?

To find out, we asked students in our school if they ever read. If that was the case, we asked what they read and how or where. 

Here's what we came up with.

What do teenagers read?

According to our questionnaire, most adolescents read these four genres:

Horror

Horror novels are genres of literature, which are intended to, or have the capacity to frighten, scare, or startle their readers by inducing feelings of horror and terror.

It's usually supernatural, though it can be non-supernatural. Often the central menace of a work of horror fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for the larger fears of a society. 

The genre of horror has ancient origins with roots in folklore and religious tradition focusing on death, the after life, evil, the demonic and the principle of ‘the thing’ embodied in the person. These were manifested in stories of beings such as witches, vampires, werewolves and ghosts.

Fan-fiction

The term fanfiction or fan fiction, often abbreviated to fanfic or fic, refers to works of fiction written by fans of a literary or dramatic work (film, novel, tv show, video game, anime...). In these stories the character, situations and environments described in the original of the author's own creation are used and new roles for these are developed. 

This kind of reading, often leads to writing: it's one of the most important sources of inspiration for teenagers to start writing their own stories. 

Romance

The romance novel or romantic novel is a literary genre. Novels of this type of genre fiction place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an 'emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending'. There are many subgenres of the romance novel including fantasy, historical, science fiction and paranormal.

According to the Romance Writers of America, the main plot of a romance novel must revolve about the two people as they develop romantic love for each other and the work to build a relationship. Both the conflict and the climax of the novel should be directly related to that core theme of developing a romantic relationship, although the novel can also contain subplots that do not specifically relate to the main characters` romantic love.

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginative content such as futuristic settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, time travel, faster than light travel, parallel universes and extraterrestrial life. It usually eschews the supernatural, and unlike the related genre of fantasy, its imaginary elements are largely plausible within the scientifically established context of the story. Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations, and has been called a 'literature of ideas'.

Where do teenagers read?

When people say we don't read, they may be actually wrong. Teenagers are used to reading in a very different way, far from traditional books. We might be reading in a bus, right next to you, but you think we are checking our phones or social networks. 

PDF

If you are looking for a particular book, all you have to do is Google the title up, generally followed by 'PDF'. When the results appear, you click on the site chosen and download the file. You can do this in your tablet, mobile phone, ipod and laptop -among others-. 

Wattpad

You must log in to an account in Wattpad via Internet or by downloading the application. Once done, you can follow your favourite writers to see all their publications. All novels or stories you find here are adaptations, none will be original except the stories created by users (you can also do it) and add to 'your library' what you want to read. In each text you have the option to rate and comment freely.

Facebook

This might be news for a lot of people, but you can also read books on Facebook. There are lots of FB pages that upload fanfics and stories written by several users. All you have to do is click on the album and you will find the consecutive chapters under the pictures. 

So, next time you hear someone say that 'teenagers don't read anymore', remember our words...WE STILL READ!!

Brisa Gómez and Florencia Migliavacca - 3rd Year