What do they read in primary and secondary school?

BarcelonaMystery, adventures, horror, romance, dystopias, and comics. Above all, comics. The reading interests of young people are varied, and these are some of the themes that abound when it comes to discerning what they read, but there's more, and they obey reasons and interests that update as they grow older.

“For primary school children, you must primarily have collections of books with block letters and suitable for their reading pace, but also of quality. In our library, titles by authors Copons & Fortuny, the Gos Pudent book collections, those of Narval, Superpatata… are successful. They are comic-like, they have a simple read, and they hook them a lot,” comments Carmen Ferrer, a primary school teacher and coordinator of the library at Escola Els Pinetons in La Garriga. She details that she has noticed that, at this stage, what they read most are adventure and mystery books. “Lately, there's also a lot of demand for comics and manga, but of this type, students in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade read more,” she assures.

Yolanda Durà is the coordinator of early childhood education and the library at Institut Escola Mestre Morera in Barcelona. She also perceives this growing interest in book collections and, especially, in comics, in this early reading stage. “It's a good gateway to reading. From the school, however, we try to broaden this spectrum and offer other book recommendations, such as good illustrated albums, introduce them to poetry, good literature, and knowledge books.” Durà acknowledges that schools do a very good job of ensuring students acquire reading habits, but it's not enough. “The family's role is fundamental. Reading must also be present in the home: talk about books, value them, give them as gifts, be interested in what the child reads, discuss it, and accompany them.”

Barometer of reading habits and book purchasing in Spain 2025“It is a shame that the Department of Education does not consider the figure of the librarian teacher in schools. An understanding person to dedicate a full schedule to school library sessions, prepare good activities, create reading itineraries, introduce reference authors of children's and youth literature (CYL), nurture classroom libraries and carry out various activities to foster the reading habit”, laments Durà in the same way as Ferrer.

From comics to romances and dystopias

“If students have a socio-family environment that reads, it will be easier for them to read, but if this is not the case and they do not have a very strong personality, they will hardly do so”, states Judit Terrats, a Catalan language teacher at the Institut Quatre Cantons in Poblenou, Barcelona, and a master's graduate in school libraries and reading promotion. She was the coordinator of the library at the Institut Milà i Fontanals in Barcelona for four academic years and assures that, despite the perception that young people do not read, evidence and different studies –such as the Barómetro de hábitos de lectura y compra de libros en España 2025 (Spain 2025 Reading and Book Purchasing Habits Barometer), produced by Conecta, and the exploratory study Prácticas y percepciones de lectura en adolescentes y jóvenes (Reading Practices and Perceptions in Adolescents and Young People), produced by PezLinterna– indicate that they do read, and that young people have become the age group that buys the most books and reads the most.

Terrats also highlights the preference for manga and comics among secondary school students, as books with a lot of text can overwhelm them in some cases. She maintains that there are, however, especially girls who read books originating from Wattpad or novels considered romantic, even though some depict toxic relationships. “If they read them for pure entertainment, there's nothing to say. But if they believe and expect life to be like that or are willing to live such relationships, it is no longer so advisable for them to read these types of books, especially at ages when their worldview is being formed”, she points out. Mystery, horror, love... The themes do not vary much during adolescence, although new ones emerge, such as stories about homosexuality. “The comics Heartstopper were never available in the library, they were always on loan –recalls Terrats–. And there were also many loans of books on sex education”.

The pleasure of reading

“For a book to hook me, it has to be written in the first person; I really like to know the protagonist's feelings firsthand. I also like there to be love and fantasy, and, moreover, some emotion that gives meaning to the book. And, to finish, a phrase that stays with you and helps you in your day-to-day life”, explains Vinyet Farnós, a third-year ESO student at Institut Escola El Perelló. She considers herself a reader and says she enjoys the pleasure of disconnecting from the real world with letters. “I have always liked reading books that deviate from reality. One of my favorite authors is Suzanne Collins”, she says. That's why she can't stop recommending the trilogy ofThe Hunger Games. At the same time, she confirms what many teachers observe: girls tend to read more than boys and the language in which a book is written is not a condition when it comes to reading it.

But, apart from readings done for pleasure, there are also the obligatory ones. And there are some that don't seem to attract students as much. “I understand that it is very important that we read them, but many times they are not interesting enough for all students, which makes us not give them the importance they should. We don't have to read boring and classic books to learn something”, states Vinyet.

Marta Moreno Puertas is an editorial communicator and prescriber of children's and young adult literature on social media (@letrasavoces). In her opinion, what works best for children and young people is to experience reading as their own space and not as an obligation. “When there is someone, be it a teacher or a librarian, who truly accompanies and recommends with criteria and passion, it is very noticeable”, she says. For this Sant Jordi, she recommends not looking for the perfect book but rather one that can connect with the recipient. She indicates that thinking less about what one has to read and more about what can bring enjoyment, laughter, or emotion is more interesting; especially at these ages, when the most important thing is to generate a bond with reading.

From her work as an editorial communicator, however, Moreno assures that, in this case, another layer comes into play, as YA literature is often recommended from a more technical standpoint, because factors such as age, reading level, or even educational context are involved. “Even so, as a reader and as the child I was, I keep in mind that what truly endures is not so much what a book has wanted to teach you as what it has made you feel: the worlds where you have taken refuge, the characters who have accompanied you, the tenderness of certain images, or that feeling of having discovered something that is only yours”, she explains. And that is what children and young people of all generations do when they open a book: discover interesting stories and connect with them according to their particular tastes.