In 2020, a worldwide shift to partial or fully remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant that K-12 students accessed more digital books than ever through the Sora student reading app.

OverDrive Education data from 38,000 schools in 71 countries shows that tens of millions of checkouts – nearly the triple the total in 2019 – were recorded for the year.

So – what were students reading? Let’s take a look at the breakdowns below to find out.*

*Please note: This data does not include no-cost titles from the Sora Starter package.

Top Ebooks from K-12 Schools Worldwide in 2020:

  1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
  2. Smile series by Raina Telgemeir
  3. Big Nate series by Lincoln Peirce
  4. Forgotten Bones by Lois Miner Huey
  5. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
  6. Wonder by R. J. Palacio
  7. Arcade or Bust! by Nickelodeon Publishing
  8. A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
  9. For Whom the Ball Rolls by Dav Pilkey
  10. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling

Top Digital Audiobooks from K-12 Schools Worldwide in 2020:

  1. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
  2. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling
  3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
  4. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
  5. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
  6. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  7. A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’engle
  8. The Dragonet Prophecy by Tui T. Sutherland
  9. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
  10. Refugee by Alan Gratz

Top Young Adult ebooks and audiobooks published in 2020:

  1. A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Park
  2. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
  3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  4. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
  5. One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
  6. The Truth Is by NoNieqa Ramos
  7. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
  8. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
  9. The Selection by Kiera Cass
  10. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Top fiction ebooks and audiobooks published in 2020:

  1. Grime and Punishment by Dav Pilkey
  2. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesby Suzanne Collins
  3. The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate
  4. Blow the Roof Off! by Lincoln Peirce
  5. One of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus
  6. Logan Likes Mary Anne! by Ann M. Martin
  7. Act by Kayla Miller
  8. The Good Egg Presents by Jory John
  9. Becoming Brianna by Terri Libenson
  10. A Girl Like Me by Angela Johnson

Top nonfiction ebooks and audiobooks published in 2020:

  1. Stamped–Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds
  2. Coronavirus by Axel Scheffler
  3. A Promised Land by Barack Obama
  4. Almost American Girl by Robin Ha
  5. Guide to Survival by Mojang Ab
  6. This Book Is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell
  7. The Legend of Kobe Bryant by Triumph Books
  8. Who Was Kobe Bryant? by Ellen Labrecque
  9. What Is LEGO? by Jim O’Connor
  10. Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang

Genre preferences vary, while culturally relevant reading rises

The most popular genres among students include comic and graphic books, humor, fantasy, picture book fiction, biography & autobiography and history.

During 2020, students also showed that social justice and civil rights issues were front-of-mind, as they borrowed ebooks to learn about slavery, civil rights, gay rights and inequality, including titles from collections donated by OverDrive and their publishing partners. The most-read titles from the Black Lives Matter and Own Voices and Diversity Books for Students collections were The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (available earlier this year) and Forgotten Bones by Lois Miner Huey.