A report released today by the National Year of Reading shows a staggering 45% of teenagers have been told off by an adult for enjoying something that is not deemed to be ‘proper reading’. It is these narrow definitions of what constitutes reading that is unwittingly turning-off the next generation of avid readers.

The report, entitled Read Up, Fed Up is the conclusion to a month-long research project capturing exactly what titles are getting 11-14 year olds passionate about reading – both what they love and loathe.

There is an explosion of digital reading, with four out of ten top teen reads being online

•  Teens also love reading film scripts and song lyrics
• Traditional literature is by no means lost, with Anne Frank’s Diary ranking just one place below Harry Potter nearly 60 years after it was written.
•  80% of teens have actually written their own story, film, play or song

Honor Fletcher-Wilson, Director of the National Year of Reading said: “The explosion of digital media, and how we use it, means that today’s young people are exposed to a wider variety of reading material than any previous generation. Despite this, it seems adults are not yet embracing this shift and are not encouraging teens to take advantage of this new landscape.

Sue Palmer comments in today's Telegraph The trouble with reading magazines and reading online is that you don't get the narrative thread of a story in the same way. "By reading a book you are building up the stamina to absorb words for a longer period of time. What you are doing is gradually locking brains with the author, which you do not really do in quite the same way when you read chunks of a magazine or chunks of text on a screen.