A study examined how students developed as readers from their own point of view. Reader autobiographies and questionnaires were collected from 272 advanced, general, and basic level 12th-grade high school students from a variety of high schools in the state of Georgia. In addition, three students who were characteristic of the three types of readers (avid, lukewarm, and nonreader) were interviewed. Results indicated that: (1) avid readers had the most positive attitudes toward reading followed by lukewarm readers and then nonreaders; (2) factors that spurred extrinsic and intrinsic motivations to get students to read were interesting reading materials, summer reading clubs and book fairs, being read to, free reading, and the desire to acquire life knowledge; (3) avid readers were also motivated by assigned readings; (4) factors that caused lukewarm and nonreaders to be turned off to reading were assigned reading and being forced to read aloud in class; and (5) the main reason subjects did not read was that they were too busy with other activities. (Ten tables of data are included. Contains 44 references.) The questionnaire is attached. (RS)