Today’s teens and preteens aren’t the only ones up on the latest themes in young adult fiction. Katie Loubier is, too.

Wiscasset Middle School’s new reading interventionist can talk about the wave of vampire-themed books a few years ago and the more recent trend toward dystopia-based series such as “The Hunger Games.”

She’s a Harry Potter fan, from her college years when the J.K. Rowling series was continuing to unfold.

“I think it’s just a series that I’ll always love,” she said.

The Vassalboro-raised teacher has always loved books. She was first read to in the womb when her mother, an avid reader, would read books to her older siblings, she said.

Loubier’s love of reading factored into her career choice. She holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education, with an English concentration, from the University of Maine at Orono, and a master’s degree in literacy education from the University of Southern Maine.

Loubier’s teaching position has her working this year with about 50 of the school’s fifth fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth graders. Her students are those who are reading below their grade levels.

“I’m trying to bring them up so that they don’t fall between the cracks,” she said.

Test scores and teacher referrals determine who gets the help. Then Loubier finds out from each student what they’ve read and what they like to read. A student’s interest in what they’re reading is as important for those reading below grade level as it is for other readers, she said. “It’s crucial.”

Her role at the middle school is a highly important one for student literacy, Principal Bruce Scally said.

“Learning first starts with the ability to communicate, and unfortunately if a student doesn’t have a good grasp, it puts them behind the eight ball,” he said.

Loubier, 32, lives in Durham. She worked several years in South Portland schools, first as an educational technician, then a ninth grade teacher before budget cuts claimed that position. Last year, she substitute-taught for Freeport-based Regional School Unit 5.