Jason D. DeHart is an assistant professor of reading education at Appalachian State University. DeHart's research interests include multimodal literacy, including film and graphic novels, and literacy instruction with adolescents. He taught middle grades English/Language Arts for eight years and continues to work to keep current with trends in education. DeHart’s work has recently appeared in SIGNAL Journal, English Journal, and The Social Studies, and he has a co-edited volume, Connecting Theory and Practice in Middle School Literacy, set to be released by Routledge later this year. He is passionate about literacy, inclusive practices, engaged reading, and authentic writing practices.