Among the fascinating anecdotes Gladwell offers up in his recent book, Outliers (2008), is his description of research into the socioeconomic achievement gap—why children from underprivileged families traditionally lag behind in academics. His conclusion: “Virtually all of the advantage that wealthy students have over poor students is the result of differences in ways privileged kids learn while they are not in school” (p. 258). Looking at reading scores of elementary students, Gladwell notes that underprivileged children actually learn just as well during the academic school year as those from a higher socioeconomic status (SES). In fact, they “out-learn” the wealthiest students during the school year. But while summer learning loss is common among all students, it dramatically affects lower SES youth. This month’s column focuses on closing the gap with summer reading.