In this article, we discuss tensions that emerged as we collaborated with teachers to iteratively design and refine an afterschool reading intervention approach that emphasizes inquiry and disciplinary learning for upper elementary readers positioned as struggling in school. Our findings are organized around four design tensions that help us consider what it takes to re-imagine the 'ofcourseness' that dominates traditional approaches to tiered intervention in schools. These design tensions are: (1) competing priorities in student learning; (2) compromised forms of inquiry-based instruction; (3) negotiating how texts are chosen; and (4) complexities of responsiveness. These tensions underscore the messy challenges that must be addressed in school reform efforts related to reading intervention for older elementary readers.