海角大神

The most-watched show globally on Netflix last month was 鈥淎dolescence,鈥� a fictional and disturbing drama about a 13-year-old British boy charged with killing a girl. The intense acting and film style (one continuous take per episode) explores the origins of such an evil act.

The popularity of the four-part series, however, lies largely in the boy鈥檚 lonely descent into the digital universe of misogynistic social media and cyberbullying. The show has revived interest in restricting teens鈥� access to the internet 鈥� such as Australia鈥檚 pending ban on聽social media聽for people under age 16 鈥� as well as banning phones in schools.

Yet like a good plot twist, this cultural moment in film has a countermoment in another medium. Young people in the United States are descending on (physical) bookstores, driven not only because of the popularity of a video-posting site, BookTok, but also so they can enjoy the safe and inclusive community that many bookstores now offer.

Members of Generation Z and Generation Alpha are discovering what life was like before the iPhone, when reading books like 鈥淟ord of the Flies鈥� and 鈥淎re You There God? It鈥檚 Me, Margaret鈥� came with the touch of paper, the smell of ink, and in-person conversation about the relevance of a coming-of-age story to teenage angst.

To be sure, the percentage of boys between the ages of 8 and 18 in Britain who enjoy reading has fallen over the past two decades, from 46% to 28%, according to the National Literacy Trust. The country鈥檚 prime minister wants 鈥淎dolescence鈥� to be shown in schools to encourage 鈥渃onversations鈥� about what troubles today鈥檚 boys. Still, almost two-thirds of people between the ages of 16 and 25 say BookTok聽has nudged them to discover a passion for reading, according to a survey by the Publishers Association.

In the U.S., meanwhile, the biggest (and once flailing) bookstore chain, Barnes & Noble, opened or reopened 57 shops last year and plans to open at least 60 more this year. The entire book industry has been revived largely because young people are using BookTok, a subcommunity of TikTok, to review and share their favorite聽books and authors.

Many bookstores now display favorites on BookTok or organize social gatherings around those books. 鈥淢any stores have ... truly become a go-to destination for kids and teenagers to gather after school,鈥� a聽Barnes聽& Noble spokesperson told Business Insider.

Or as one college student, Karis Hudgins at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, wrote in her school newspaper: 鈥淭he world of literature is now more inclusive and accessible than ever before.鈥� Lonely boys, take note.