The Sparx Reader Library

At Sparx Reader, we have a growing library of ebooks that we’re really proud of. We team up with various publishers to pick great books that show different people’s experiences. These books are also very enjoyable to read, and lots are award-winning! As students read, we learn more about which books and genres readers like – this helps us when we choose new books to add to our library.

Our library of ebooks caters for reading ages between 6 and 17+ for students with actual ages between 11 and 16. 

Sparx Reader Library in your Sparx site

You can find the full library of books by clicking on Library on the left hand side menu in your Sparx Reader site.

You can search for books, filter by reading age and see books that are new or are coming soon. 

If you click on a book, you can find out more about the themes and any minimum age ratings as well as what the book is about. 

Choosing Books

Students get to choose from four books whenever they start a new book with Sparx Reader. We base these initial recommendations on the reading age we have calculated as part of their Sparx Reading Test, as well as taking into account the student’s real age to ensure the books given are appropriate. As students read on the platform, we learn more about how they read and we use this when deciding what books to offer them in the future. We also periodically ask students to rate books, on difficulty and enjoyment. Rating a book as far too hard or easy will adjust the difficulty of future books offered, as well as rating a book as having low enjoyment. Taking this all into consideration, this means any book recommendations are based on our latest estimate of their reading level.

We deliberately narrow the choice students have to four books, as research suggests that when students are given too many books to choose from, they will struggle to decide, are likely to flit between them and not give any a good go. Too much choice, in our experience, can often mean students do not end up making a choice at all. Students do have the option to swap their book after a couple of sections if they aren't enjoying it. (Read more here: When can a student swap their book?)

If you’d like to learn more about the Sparx Reader Library and the books we’ve selected, as well as some book recommendations from students, please take a look at the document below. (Document linked here)