A study explored how adolescents' negotiations and interpretations of out-of-school reading discussions were shaped by larger institutional and societal contexts that regularly influence young people's actions and interactions with peers and adults. Drawing from a theoretical framework that conceives of discourse as social practice, such discourse was located in the interplay among three contexts: the situation-specific (or local context), the institutional context, and the societal context. The 22 adolescent and 2 adult participants met weekly in a library for 15 discussions as part of 4 Read & Talk Clubs. Primary data sources included the adolescents' daily literacy activity logs, field notes, and transcripts of audiotaped interviews with the adolescents and their parents. An adaptation of N. Fairclough's critical discourse analysis was used to relate R&T Club members' socially mediated interactions to the three contexts. Findings show the adolescents read an average of 46 minutes a day, 7 days a week, over a 15-week period. This was voluntary out-of-school reading--that is, reading done in addition to school-related assignments. Evidence from the interviews suggests that R&T Clubs were viewed as social outlets for adolescents who like to read. The gendered discursive practices that were observed were as varied as those known to exist in society at large. (Contains 74 references and a chart listing club members' grade, sex, and ethnicity. Appendixes present a recruitment flyer and a literacy activity log.) (Author/RS)