It’s not just you, this World Book Day feels different. With the age of AI agents and bots upon us, we want to shine a light on the high-talent teens who are not surrendering. Their act of rebellion is to embrace reading—reading deeply.
Take Clara Wong-Fannjiang, now a leading AI scientist who spent much of her adolescence writing poetry and editing for our teen literary magazine, Polyphony Lit. At 17 she wrote, “Every submission I came across held a bit of a human heart in it.” She learned to read closely, listen for nuance and regard each piece “not just as a piece of writing but also as a person.” Today, as Wong-Fannjiang shapes the future of artificial intelligence, those human voices still ring in her head.
Her trajectory from poet to scientist is not an anomaly. Reading has long powered human achievement: it builds cognitive skills, flexible brains, creativity and receptivity to the thoughts and feelings of others.
Yet, most kids are no longer reading. In 2023, only 14 percent of 13-year-olds reported reading for fun “almost every day,” down from 27 percent in 2012. And commentators warn that we may have already passed “peak intelligence.” Seven in 10 eighth graders failed to read proficiently on the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)—known as the Nation’s Report Card. More essentially, the loss of literacy poses a threat to a healthy democracy and a healthy populace.
Over the past two decades, thousands of teens from around the world have participated in our literary magazine community. These teens choose to geek out over reading and editing poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. This kind of reading is called “deep reading” because it requires far more attention, patience and processing than scrolling and scanning.
These “lit” kids are thriving. They attend top universities, pursue rigorous career paths and win Rhodes and Presidential scholarships. They describe their extracurricular activity with Polyphony Lit as “formative,” “fulfilling” and “world-expanding.”
Decades of cognitive science confirm that deep reading changes brain circuitry and capacity. Neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf explains that when we rewire neural architecture through reading, we build crucial cognitive functions: inference, empathy, critical analysis and original thinking. In fMRI scans, pre-reading brains function differently than literate brains. Reading literally changes us.
We urge you to make this summer—long a favorite season for readers—a summer to build reading habits. Here is what we’ve learned that may help your family embrace the challenge:
Be Intentional About Building a Reading Brain
Polyphony Lit teens make time for reading. A favorite icebreaker among new editors is sharing their favorite books and what’s on their TBR (to be read) list. They fit reading into spare moments, even with demanding schoolwork and extracurriculars. Just as eating vegetables and playing outside build a healthy body, every minute spent reading strengthens the brain. Over time, many teens find the habit deeply pleasurable.
Make Reading Part of Family Culture
Many of our editors come from families that prioritize reading. Asian American students—who make up a large portion of our editorial staff—consistently outperform peers in literacy. Studies show their strong performance stems from sustained effort and cultural value placed on education. Family habits and expectations matter. Make finding literary enrichment opportunities as important as finding sports or music activities. Local libraries and online platforms offer free summer reading programs.
Look for Explicit Instruction
The “science of reading” movement offers strong evidence that explicit, systematic instruction is essential to literacy growth. If your child is a struggling reader, don’t wait. Ask your school about evidence-based interventions. If they don’t respond, seek a tutor or look online for resources.
Explicit instruction also helps teens acquire advanced skills. Many new editors lack confidence in reading poetry. We teach them how poems use sound, imagery and structure. Soon, they are flexing their knowledge, tossing around terms like “enjambment” and “polysyndetic coordination” while giving insightful feedback to peers.
Advanced Reading Is Not Just for English Majors
More than half our editors and alumni pursue STEM majors. They recognize that being a lit kid doesn’t narrow opportunity—it expands it.
Wong-Fannjiang recently explained to our editors that literary skills are essential at the frontiers of science. “The editorial skills—and sheer appreciation of language—I developed are constantly in use,” she said. “My favorite part of the research process happens at the very end, when we write the paper. That’s my opportunity to develop the most honest, compelling illustration of why what we did is new and why it matters. Research that fails to clearly integrate with existing knowledge may be brilliant, but will struggle to make an impact.”
Let’s nurture more Wong-Fannjiangs in this world. None of us knows where this AI revolution will take us, but a flexible, empathetic, powerful human mind has always led to a brighter future.
Donna Seaman is the editor-in-chief for Booklist, a Polyphony Lit board member and author of River of Books: A Life in Reading; Kate Scullion is a Polyphony Lit board member/former executive director, and co-chair of outreach for the Illinois Early Literacy Coalition.
The views expressed in this article are the writers’ own.
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