While studies of reluctant adolescent readers generally focus on "what is not working" and suggest having instructional practices more responsive to students' needs, this study on avid secondary school readers centers its attention on "what might have been working" and provides empirical support for the importance of the influence of parents and teachers. With the data from national surveys on ninth and twelfth graders in Taiwan, this study found gender to be strongly associated with the likelihood of being avid readers, identified by reporting reading a lot of extracurricular books in the previous summer vacation. Family factors and teachers are significant, too. Students who see reading as an activity that plays an important role in the life of their parents have greater chances of being avid readers themselves. Similarly, students whose teachers share their enthusiasm for literature and knowledge in general also have greater chances of being avid readers. (Contains 2 tables.)