This paper addresses the study of children's reading interests and their attitudes toward reading as these factors relate to leisure-time reading. The problem of poor performances on measures of reading achievement by African-American children from low-income families has been studied for over 3 decades. Additionally, sociocultural and environmental factors that may affect the reading performance of inner-city, African-American, middle-grade (grades 5-8) children have been the subject of much research. However, that research has not focused on the African-American student or the out-of-school setting. Moreover, little attention has been given to the reading attitudes, interest, and motivation of these children. The paper discusses the need to examine the attitude, interest, and motivation of inner-city, African-American, middle-grade children toward leisure reading. It also discusses the importance of examining the interrelationships that may exist among attitude, interest, and motivation. Contains 40 references and a figure illustrating an affective model of reading. (Author/RS)