African American males have consistently scored lower than their peers on national reading assessments for the last 50 years (Ladd, 2017). These readers are among many students who find their reading motivation wanes as they matriculate through school. Reading attitudes of middle schoolers are also generally negative. This qualitative case study explores the reading motivation of African American, middle school males who were given reading autonomy. McClelland's (1988) human motivation theory, which describes motivation as the need for achievement, the need for power, and the need for affiliation, guided this study. Participants provided in-depth responses during semistructured and unstructured interviews. The data revealed major findings: autonomy increased reading motivation, students preferred reading choice and not assigned readings, graphic novels were favored, and students had increased feelings of confidence and competence. This study concludes that African American males are motivated to read and can increase their reading motivation when given reading choice. The power to choose encourages them to value texts, promotes social reading, and produces strong feelings of competence and self-efficacy. This study adds to research on reading motivation and negative reading attitudes in middle school, the positive effects of reading autonomy, and the reading experiences of African American middle school males. Future studies can expand on these findings to include a more large-scale exploration of the reading motivations of African American males, reading attitudes of middle school students, and reading motivation and attitudes of struggling readers. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]