What do they read in primary and secondary school?

BarcelonaMystery, adventure, horror, romances, dystopias, and comics. Especially comics. Young people's reading interests are varied, and these are some of the themes that are common when it comes to discerning what they read, but there are more, and they obey reasons and interests that are updated as they grow up.

“For primary school children, you should primarily have collections of books in block letters and suitable for their reading pace, but also of quality. In our library, titles by authors Copons & Fortuny, the collections of books by Gos Pudent, those of Narval, Superpatata... are a success. They are comic types, have a simple read, and 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, they read adventure and mystery books the most. “Lately, there is also a lot of demand for comics and manga, but students in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade read more of this type,” she assures.

Yolanda Durà is the coordinator for early childhood education and the library at Institut Escola Mestre Morera in Barcelona. She also perceives this increasing interest in book collections and, especially, in comics, at this early reading stage. “It's a good gateway to reading. From the school's perspective, however, we try to broaden this range 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 helping students acquire reading habits, but that it's not enough. “The family's role is fundamental. Reading must also be present at home: talk about books, value them, give them as gifts, take an interest in what the child is reading, 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. Someone knowledgeable to dedicate full time to school library sessions, prepare good activities, create reading itineraries, introduce reference authors of children's and young adult literature (CYAL), stock classroom libraries, and carry out various activities to foster the reading habit”, laments Durà in the same way as Ferrer.

From comics to novels and dystopias

“If students have a socio-familiar environment that reads, it will be easier for them to read, but if that 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 Institut Quatre Cantons in Poblenou, Barcelona, and holds a master's degree in school libraries and reading promotion. She was the coordinator of the library at Institut Milà i Fontanals in Barcelona for four academic years and assures that, despite the perception that young people do not read, evidence and various studies –such as the Barómetro de hábitos de lectura y compra de libros en España 2025, prepared by Conecta, and the exploratory study Prácticas y percepciones de lectura en adolescentes y jóvenes, prepared 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, mainly 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 relationships like that, 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 that talk about homosexuality. “You could never find the comics Heartstopper 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 grip me, it must be written in the first person; I really like to know the protagonist's feelings firsthand. I also like it to have love and fantasy and, in addition, 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've always liked reading books that deviate from reality. One of my favorite authors is Suzanne Collins”, she says. For this reason, she cannot fail to recommend 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 reading it.

But, apart from the readings done for pleasure, there are also the obligatory ones. And some of them 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 means we don't give them the importance they deserve. You don't have to read boring and classic books to learn something,” says 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 really shows,” she says. For this Sant Jordi, she recommends not looking for the perfect book but one that can connect with the recipient. She indicates that thinking less about what one should read and more about what can bring joy, 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, since children's and young adult literature is often recommended from a more technical standpoint, because factors such as age, reading level, or even the educational context are involved. “Even so, as a reader and as the child I was, I keep in mind that what really lasts is not so much what a book wanted to teach you as what it made you feel: the worlds you took refuge in, the characters who accompanied you, the tenderness of certain images, or that feeling of having discovered something just for you,” she explains. And this 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.