"This gig isn't acting, it's for real. Real kids, real lives, real educations at stake." (Chapter One, page 3)

"Many of us think that inner-city kids are somebody else's problem. Your kinds and mine go to private schools and are doing just fine. But America's public school kids are our kids, too, and these kids are going to grow up to be the majority of America's adults." (Chapter One, page 9)

"You're trying too hard to make them like you." (Chapter Three, page 45)

"Boxing has a special place in my heart because it was my ticket out of trouble and into a new life when I was young." (Chapter Four, page 69)

"The kids' knowledge of 'Julius Caesar' when quizzed by the acting troupe gives me a whole new sense of my students' involvement. The educators at the Folger who put together this program are no slouches, and even by their...