This is a thesis about 9-12-year old girls and their leisure reading. The purpose of this study is to examine their reading experiences. The method we use is a combination of qualitative interviews and studies of literature. The thesis shows that there seem to be four basic needs in girls that can be satisfied by leisure reading; the need to develop language skills; the need to be entertained; the need to gain knowledge of the world and the need to get help to resolve personal issues. The interviews with nine girls show that they primarily read for fun and that the knowledge and insights that are conveyed in literature come in second place. The analysis of the interviews shows that the majority of the girls, to a great extent, have the same kinds of reading experiences. From the different studies used in this thesis, we have found that the positive attitude of parents towards reading has a favourable influence upon childrens' reading. We found that it was very common for the girls in the empirical study to borrow books from the library in their spare time and that the girls also borrow books from their friends.