On the 17th of April, we celebrate Teen Literature Day, a day dedicated to promoting reading among teenagers. In a time when digital distractions are ever-present, this day serves as a reminder of the value and joy of reading for pleasure. Teen Literature Day encourages young readers to reconnect with books that reflect their experiences and spark imagination – highlighting the importance of literature in shaping thoughtful, engaged individuals.
Read on to discover some of our authors’ thoughts on the importance of teen literature…
R. R. Boxall, author of The Generation Archives, says…
“On Celebrate Teen Literature Day I find myself taking a moment to remember being that age and thinking about what reading has meant to me over the years. Back then, I was living on a tiny island in the middle of the North Sea, where the population numbered less than one hundred people. While there were challenges to growing up Fetlar, that no doubt differed from more common upbringings, there was a lot of magic in it too. Endless freedom, wild land and a community that cared about its own. But teenage souls are made to be restless, and on long winter nights, when the sunset at 3 pm, books provided an escapism that would change my life.
It began with reading, then as I grew, I began to dabble in creating my own world. My own pages that might offer the same relief to another feeling that oppressive need to step out of reality for a moment. So, The Generation Archives was born. A book that parallels our own world but stands apart, where adventure calls on our characters in a way that feels familiar but exciting. Plausible relationships that help us reflect on how we treat each other and how we expect to be treated in return, as so often it is easier to set boundaries if you have seen someone else set them first.
Almost all of us will struggle with feeling overwhelmed at some point, but finding a healthy outlet that allows you to step away from your worries for a time, is a gift. It is the moments peace that can restore resilience and make enough space from the problem so you can begin to see a way forward.
If there is something in these words that speaks to you, I hope you find your next great read, or maybe your first great read. I hope you find what I found, that there is magic in books. Magic that can soothe an aching heart, whisk you off on an adventure that fights drudgery, show you a path you never thought you could tread, or fill your mind with a purpose you never knew you could imagine.”
Find out more about R. R. Boxall at @rachael_boxall
Dan Batchelor, author of Jack Palmer: A New Order, says…
“Reading for a teen is so important. As a teacher, I know the importance of reading academically. However, more importantly, it can help people at a time when they are trying to find their place in the world. A book is a chance to escape, find advice in your favourite characters and let your imagination run wild. As you get older, it’s a chance to stay childish and get excited about the impossible.
Growing up dyslexic, I didn’t always enjoy reading, but when I found a series I enjoyed I would find it very hard to put it down. I would imagine the worlds and how the characters would live, and this is what inspired me to write; to try and create a world that people could imagine and get lost in. Like I say to the children in my class ‘its not that you don’t like reading, it’s that you haven’t found the right story!’
A story is a chance to have an adventure, be a hero and see the world through the eyes of another. Anything that you can possibly imagine can be a reality. In a world with plenty of worries and the pressures of social media, reading is one of the few pleasures where you can completely escape.”
Find out more about Dan Batchelor at www.jackpalmerseries.co.uk
G. T. Jones, author of The Beast Trials, says…
“Clutching my pocket money, walking a little over a mile to my nearest WHSmith, I would always hold my breath in anticipation, hoping to find the latest copy of my favourite book series on their shelves. Page by page, I would devour it, engulfing my walk home with adventure, thrills, chills, mythical creatures, and beasts. Every page would fill me with excitement allowing me to escape the world I lived in, drawing me into a new world full of exciting characters all waiting to tell me their tales, making me feel very special indeed.
Now, all grown up, I searched for that feeling once again. Whilst longing for those moments I had devoured as a teenager, I found a familiar excitement within my own imagination. A new passion burned inside of me, fueled by the urge to gift others with the nostalgic moments I still treasure. With every tap of the keyboard, The Beast Trials came to life. Every laugh, smile, and growl adorning the words spoken by my characters, as they live their lives in the enchanting world of Elementa, resparked the giddiness I had felt with every turn of the page those many years ago.
Creating the characters and lands of Elementa, knowing that they may one day serve that very purpose to young minds craving the same adventures, drives the passion deep within me. It has truly been a privilege to see so many wonderful readers join me on my journey and enjoy some true nostalgic magic.”
Find out more about G. T. Jones at www.gtjonesbooks.com.
Céline Domenech, co-author of The Dead Shadow, says…
“Happy Teen Literature Day! According to a recent survey by the National Literacy Trust, only 34.6% of young people between 8 and 18 say they enjoy reading in their free time. With so many Young Adult books out there, why are we in a situation where so few teens enjoy reading during their free time?
A lot of teens do read in their spare time. Just not always in the way we expect. They could be reading subtitles in K-dramas, following crochet tutorials, or devouring fanfiction. They might not reach out to a paperback or an e-book, but they still engage with the written word. So maybe the problem isn’t that teens have lost the joy of reading. Maybe it’s the book world that’s lost its teen sparkle. That’s where YA comes in.
YA isn’t just a genre. It’s a space. A mindset. One that exists because teen readers needed it, something not too young, not too adult, but completely its own. YA is that space on the bookshelf where the stories speak your language, your pace, your heart.
And there’s a reason for that. Around age 12, the brain starts reshaping itself, a messy, powerful, emotional process that lasts well into your twenties. It craves intensity, identity, connection. It’s impulsive, wired for risk and reward, and constantly rewriting the rules. That’s not a flaw, it’s a feature. It’s also what makes YA characters feel so real. They’re figuring things out in real time, just like their readers.
And here’s the twist: that beautiful chaos of the teen brain? It overlaps a lot with neurodivergent experiences. Many YA authors are writing not from memory, but from the now, from lived neurodivergent brains that still move through the world in nonlinear, high-emotion, deep-feeling ways. Could that be the secret to restoring the sparkle? Maybe. But really, that’s for teens to decide.”
Paul Newman, co-author of The Dead Shadow, says…
“One of my strongest childhood memories is of trying to sneakily read my latest book by torchlight – significantly past my bedtime. I would usually wake as the book bounced off my face and slammed onto the floor. I would normally only give up for the night once it took me longer to work out where I’d read up to than it took for the book to bounce off my head again. I also remember reading to my own children and it makes me happy that they are both still voracious readers.
For me, our teenage years mark the point where our childhood brains are starting to grow and think in different ways: starting to piece the complexity of the world together. As much as we ever do. These are the times when we still believe in fairy tales, while arguing against them. When maybe we think that the world of adults must be boring and ordinary to be considered ‘grown up’.
Of course, all of this doesn’t really explain why we ended up writing a book for young adults. Magical fantasy is a curious genre, in some respects: it sits at the edge of belief. It needs to be normal yet different. Ordinary yet full of possibility. Magical yet commonplace. A fairy tale that we can believe in, yet argue against.
You might argue that there is no better time of your life to appreciate this than during those years where we are quietly slipping out of our childhood. I might agree, while also arguing that some of us have always kept one foot heavily in childhood and can still enjoy this kind of fiction. I think that we’re those kind of people.”
Find out more about Céline and Paul at theshadowofphaedrus.com.
Clive Stephens, author of The Restoration Project trilogy, says…
“Teenage life is a transitional phase. We reach out to new ideas, challenge what has gone before and find our own way forward. What influences us in our teen years can linger long into life, whatever medium that is, such as books, friends and music.
Into this life period I placed my book series, The Restoration Project, in which two teenagers try to discover why their friend had disappeared. The older generation couldn’t be relied upon to investigate this properly. During a moment in the first book of the trilogy, Gambit, one of them observes: “The adults had come in and messed things up, again.”
Books offer us an opportunity to experience this reality and others. We’re invited into an author’s world and it conjures up thoughts, ideas plus beliefs may be formed and developed.
In my teens, I discovered a series of books called the Belgariad.The story’s origin was simple: a farm that could have been anywhere with a handful of characters. As the story progressed beyond the relative security of this space, more characters were brought into the fold; each one had their woes that offset their strengths.
When I noticed I was willing the characters on, I found I’d connected with the story and characters. As if my support was required to get them through the next obstacle and the next page. I’ve reread the series since. Knowing the end is less important than appreciating the telling of the story being played out.
Life is a series of moments, and our teenage years bring a lot of energy to them. Enjoy these moments.”
Anna M. Tusk, author of A Reverie Tale – Borderlands and Transience, says…
“There are no greater adventures than the ones you can be taken on in books. And I don’t just mean dragons, magic, or fantasy – which, admittedly, have always been my go-to. Mysteries? Always. Epic quests? More, please. Emotionally engaging in made-up people’s drama from the comfort of my cozy chair? No need to invite me twice. I’ve always been a keen reader, and in fact it’s how I learned to speak English, having arrived in this country as a young kid who could barely tell her classmates what her hobbies were. Books will therefore forever occupy a sweet spot in my heart. Perhaps that’s also why I’m so devoted to coming-of-age stories, from my dedication in completing reading challenges at school (and each Princess Diaries book did count as a separate entry, thank you very much) to my commitment in finishing my own novel, my own story that I wanted to tell.
A Reverie Tale is about young adults, each seeing the worlds from their own walks of life, and whose narratives weave together to expose such great a mystery that some aren’t even sure it exists at all – or which shouldn’t be questioned in the first place, depending on who you ask. In it, I employ the greatest perk of fiction: a laboratory for thinking about what life might be like if. Because let’s face it, those favourite books that we read don’t just finish on the last page; they stay with us, they inspire, and they nudge us to think. So to my teenage self and all those who a book right now need, I say: let us explore, let us succeed; let us wonder, let us read.”
Bruce Martin, author of Dream Walker – Somewhere Between Realm and Reality, says…
“For me, the importance of teenage literature started way back when I was in school. I was a very, very slow reader, and not confident in myself at all, partly because I have a neuro-spicy brain (which was never picked up on), but also because I was extremely shy. As a result I avoided reading, scared of being judged and ridiculed by my friends and peers alike. I now realise I should have done the opposite and read more to build my confidence, but no one even suggested that to me. As a result, it took me a long time to learn to love reading and realise there were many, many worlds and situations to get lost in. My childhood also had an influence on the way I write, as I try and write in a way that’s easy to read.
Now in modern times, I feel reading for teenagers is even more important. With the likes of the internet and several social media platforms, teenagers are over aware of how hard and ruthless the world can actually be – always painting a picture of doom and gloom. So, getting lost in a good book, is the perfect escape from real life. This is why I aimed my novel, Dream Walker – Somewhere Between Realm and Reality, at young adults, to give them something I would have loved at their age.”
