5 takeaways from teen readers

Teen Read Week is an opportunity to celebrate young readers, but it also offers a useful window into the reading habits of middle and high school students. What keeps them coming back to a story? Which genres and formats show up most often? And how do the books they choose for themselves overlap with the titles they encounter in class?

Sora data from the 2024–2025 school year, alongside summer 2026 checkout data, offers a snapshot of the books resonating with teen readers. The results span contemporary favorites and established classics, long-running series and standalone stories, graphic novels and prose, ebooks and audiobooks.

For educators, these patterns offer more than a list of popular titles. They provide clues about the stories, formats, and connections that can help shape a more engaging reading environment.

Here are 5 things the data reveals.

1. A good story can keep readers coming back

A familiar cast of characters and an unfinished story can give readers a compelling reason to pick up another book. Series were especially prominent in the summer 2026 data: 15 of the top 20 young adult ebooks were part of established series, including The Hunger Games, Heartstopper, Harry Potter, and The Summer I Turned Pretty.

Audiobooks showed a similar pattern, with multiple installments from The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and The Summer I Turned Pretty appearing among the top 20 titles. The 2024–2025 annual report reinforces the trend, with Heartstopper, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and other continuing stories ranking among the most-borrowed young adult ebooks or audiobooks.

For educators, this is a reminder that a series can offer a natural path from one reading experience to the next. Consider highlighting the first book in a series, grouping installments together in a digital reading list, or featuring a series starter for students looking for their next read. Helping a student find one story they love can make the next choice a little easier.

2. Visual storytelling belongs in the teen reading conversation

Comic and graphic books were the #1 fiction ebook category for young adult readers in Sora's 2024–2025 data. Individual titles help illustrate that popularity: Avatar: The Last Airbender—The Promise and multiple volumes of Heartstopper appeared among the top young adult ebooks. Spider-Man: Great Power, Great Mayhem and other comics also featured among titles primarily borrowed by high school-aged readers.

These results make a strong case for treating graphic novels and comics as an integral part of a teen collection, rather than a separate category reserved for certain readers. Visual storytelling offers a different way to experience character, plot, pacing, and emotion, and its appeal can extend across reading preferences and experience levels.

During Teen Read Week, educators can bring graphic titles into book displays, reading challenges, and recommendations alongside prose fiction. Pairing different storytelling styles gives students more ways to discover a book that catches their attention.

3. Stories don't stop at the edge of the page

Some of the most popular teen titles are also part of broader conversations in entertainment and popular culture. The Hunger Games, Heartstopper, and The Summer I Turned Pretty appeared among summer 2026's top young adult ebooks, with many of the same titles represented on the audiobook list.

Film and television adaptations, returning series, and online conversations can keep stories in front of audiences beyond their original publication. Checkout data can't tell us whether an adaptation prompted a particular student to borrow a book, but familiar stories offer educators a timely connection between students' interests and reading.

A new season, movie, game, or other cultural moment can be a reason to refresh a display or create a themed reading list. For students who already recognize a title or its characters, the book offers another way to explore a story. For others, the same connection may be an invitation to discover it for the first time.

Looking for inspiration? Explore upcoming book-to-screen adaptations for fall and winter 2026.

4. Classics still have a place on teen reading lists

Reading trends aren't exclusively about the newest releases. Established works continue to appear alongside contemporary favorites in Sora's teen reading data.

The Giver ranked among the top young adult ebooks and also appeared among the most-borrowed young adult audiobooks, alongside The Outsiders. Among titles primarily borrowed by high school-aged readers, To Kill a Mockingbird, Fahrenheit 451, and Animal Farm appeared alongside newer books, comics, and titles connected to popular culture.

That overlap offers a useful perspective on independent and assigned reading. Students can encounter a classic through coursework and still choose to explore it in another format. They can also discover a new favorite independently and bring that enthusiasm into classroom discussions.

For educators, the opportunity is to make connections between these reading experiences. A display pairing a curriculum title with contemporary books exploring similar themes, for example, can help students see how questions about identity, power, belonging, and society appear across different stories and eras.

5. The same story can work across different formats

Ebooks and audiobooks offer different reading experiences, but the summer 2026 data shows that many popular titles travel across both. The Hunger Games, The Giver, The Summer I Turned Pretty, and The Inheritance Games, among others, appeared in the top 20 young adult titles for both ebooks and audiobooks.

The broader 2024–2025 Sora data provides additional context: ebooks accounted for 85% of digital checkouts worldwide, while audiobooks accounted for 11%.

The overlap between formats suggests that popular stories aren't necessarily tied to a single way of reading. Students may prefer to read text on a screen, listen to a narrator bring a story to life, or choose a format based on the book and the circumstances. Checkout data identifies borrowing patterns, not individual motivations, but it does show why both formats deserve consideration when building a digital collection.

For educators, offering multiple formats can help students find a practical way to engage with the same story. It also creates opportunities to connect independent reading with listening activities, classroom discussion, and other forms of literary engagement.

Putting the reading data to work

The most popular teen titles don't point to one formula for encouraging reading. Instead, they reveal a varied landscape: readers returning to familiar fictional worlds, exploring visual storytelling, following stories that cross into popular culture, and encountering classics alongside contemporary favorites.

Educators can put these patterns to work in simple ways:

Revisit popular series. Feature first installments and make it easy for students to find what comes next.

Give graphic novels equal visibility. Include comics and graphic novels in reading recommendations, displays, and challenges.

Use cultural moments as conversation starters. Connect upcoming adaptations and other trends to books students can explore.

Build bridges between independent and assigned reading. Pair classics with contemporary titles that share themes or questions.

Make room for multiple formats. Include ebooks and audiobooks when recommending titles and creating reading lists.

Teen Read Week is a timely reminder to look beyond reading lists alone and pay attention to what students are actually borrowing. The data offers a starting point for conversations about collections, recommendations, and the many ways teens find their next great read.