What in the word?

Several people recently recommended I read an article from The Atlantic called, provocatively, “Reading Is a Vice” (Jan. 2, 2026). Author Adam Kirsch argues that if we want young Americans to read more, we should not invoke the argument that reading “is good for democracy.”

Rather, he says, we should play up the dangers of reading, how it can be subversive or even naughty (my words, not his), exposing readers to ideas that are often hidden behind closed doors. If we take that approach, he says, young people will definitely want to read and check things out for themselves. They will be drawn in by page-turning excitement, not “because it’s good for you” (again, my words, not his).

While I don’t think reading alone will save democracy (unfortunately), I also don’t think it takes a Lady Chatterly’s Lover or In Cold Blood to motivate people to read. I do agree with Kirsch that to get people reading, we need to find material that interests them, sometimes even passionately (but, let’s face it, that’s pretty rare). Every reader, me included, needs to be somehow engaged by a book — either by its characters, writing, plot, or subject — in order to stay with it.

And, yes, I agree with Kirsch that one problem we face is that reading is often pursued in solitude in an era when so many activities tend to be social, like multiplayer online gaming or fantasy leagues or even online Wordle, Scrabble, or bridge. (I was struck by a statistic I saw recently that Gen Z was most likely to attend movies in person in 2025 compared to any other age group — another indication of their affinity for a social, not, solitary, type of entertainment?)

But maybe that’s part of the solution, too. Think of all the ways that reading can be a communal activity and strengthen bonds with other people: book club discussions, family read-alouds, or even city-wide “Big Reads.” Getting ideas from friends is one of the best ways to find books you’ll love.

But then comes the hard part: How do we cultivate the needed stamina to sustain readers through whole texts? We adult readers often developed that habit in school, but what’s worrisome now is how young people are unlikely to be asked to read whole books in school, making the habit of reading longer works uncommon.

As Kirsch notes, based on others’ research:

“Over the past decade, American students’ reading abilities have plummeted, and their reading habits have followed suit. In 2023, just 14 percent of 13-year-olds read for fun almost every day, down from 27 percent a decade earlier. A growing share of high-school and even college students struggle to read a book cover to cover.”

Why does it matter? Isn’t any kind of reading good? Actually, many researchers argue that not all reading is equal. Reading whole narratives, start to finish, exposes students to themes and character and plot development that short passages just can’t convey.

A lot of the push toward assigning shorter selections (articles, paragraphs, poems, chapters, acts of plays) resulted from standardized testing. Since students are asked to answer questions based on such short passages, teachers assign them so students can practice what they’re likely to encounter on tests. Tests are often designed to check a student’s understanding of a particular concept, such as identifying a character trait or an example of poetic imagery or a rhetorical device — not a book’s broad themes or character development.

In an Education Week survey, a quarter of some 300 district administrators, school leaders, and teachers reported that they relied on excerpts; half said they used a mix of basals (textbooks that occasionally include whole texts) and excerpts.

But reading researchers agree that novels and longer works are “powerful teaching tools for children in upper elementary grades and beyond. Says Maryanne Wolf, the well-known director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a member of Planet Word’s Advisory Board: “The reading brain needs to be exercised. One of the major ways to exercise it is prolonged, denser reading that is continuous.” (Education Week, “Are Books Really Disappearing from American Classrooms?” Oct. 13, 2025)

This means we can’t rely on schools to combat this trend. But many teachers do recognize the power of whole-class and whole-text reading. Education Week profiled fifth grade teacher Laura Patranella, who assigned Sharon Creech’s novel in verse, Love That Dog, to her whole class. When students reached the last page and its surprising reveal, she said, “A collective sadness blanketed the room when students read the end together in class … That was a really powerful time for everyone.”

That’s the power of a great read and the power of sharing the reading experience. That’s how we’ll get people reading again. It won’t be because it’s good for democracy (although I could make that argument, too), but because it’s good for the soul.

—Ann Friedman, founder of Planet Word