The purpose of this study was to determine if reading achievement of students from high-poverty US schools differs as a function of participation in summer tutoring versus access to books. Data from 100 at-risk youth who participated in tutoring (n = 45) or received self-selected books (n = 55) indicated significant gains for students in both groups in contextual reading fluency, gains only for the books group in word reading fluency, and no gains for either group in reading comprehension. Results add modestly to the growing evidence that access to books is a cost-efficient means to address summer reading loss.