The Authors: Brett Elizabeth Blake is Associate Chair of the Department of Early Childhood, Childhood, and Adolescent Education at St. John¿s University, where she is also a Vincentian Fellow for social justice and poverty. She holds an M.A. in linguistics from Northwestern University and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Chicago, in Curriculum and Instruction. Her latest book is A Culture of Refusal (Peter Lang, 2004). Robert W. Blake is Professor Emeritus of Education and Human Development, English Education, at the State University of New York College at Brockport. He earned his M.A. in American Literature from Boston University and his Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Rochester. He has published middle school textbooks, monographs, and books of general interest, the most recent being Literacy and Learning: A Reference Handbook and Literature as a Way of Knowing: Critical Thinking and Moral Reasoning.