In this paper, we examine the relationship between student engagement and social studies literacy, exploring the possible connections between students' reading interests and practices and social studies learning. With a sample of 802 secondary students from five schools in one urban community, we use complementary methods to explore survey and interview data. Descriptive analysis of survey data indicated that study participants often perceived social studies education in school as boring and irrelevant. Nevertheless, qualitative analysis of interview data from a subsample revealed that many young people describe using texts to explore dimensions of their identities as well as themes of struggle and conflict. We use these findings to illuminate connections between youths' concerns and interests and the enduring problems taken up by the social sciences, arguing that attention to these connections has the potential to engage students and develop their thinking and literacy practices in the social studies.