This qualitative study examines the Accelerated Reader program and its influence on students. John Dewey (1938) stated that it was the educator's responsibility to arrange for the kind of experiences which engage students in activities that are more than immediately enjoyable since such experiences allow students to have desirable future experiences. Learning to read is an experience that can create frustration and anxiety. To reduce this, educators can motivate students by encouraging reading. The Accelerated Reader program is a commercial software program that is used for the management of reading by providing accounting records. While this program can use extrinsic rewards for reading, some students use the program because they enjoy the reading activity and value personal accomplishments. This study investigated how top successful readers view and utilize the Accelerated Reader program. Four top reading students were selected for the study. The students came from low social-economic backgrounds and each had his/her own personal obstacles to overcome. The inquiry question driving this qualitative research was: How do elementary students experience the Accelerated Reader program in a South Texas border school? Through narrative inquiry, these students' stories were analyzed and characterized. Their opinions and attitudes about reading and the Accelerated Reader program became revealed. In exploring their stories, it is suggested that the students' motivation to read came primarily from sources other than the program. While all the students reported enjoying using the program and indicated that they would continue to read and use the Accelerated Reader for as long as it was made available to them, their enthusiasm to read came primarily from their teacher, their families, and from the students themselves. Family support was evidenced in each of the students' stories as was the role of the teacher in motivating the students to be readers. In addition, the students' stories showed the resiliency they all appear to possess. One implication of the study suggests that the Accelerated Reader program can be an excellent motivational tool for motivating students to read but it requires other supports, including an educator to facilitate the desire of students to read more.