M Dot Reese is the author of You Down With O.P.D.? He is a former Middle and High School English teacher who believes literature can be a catalyst for personal and social change. He wrote You Down With O.P.D.? as a Junior in college. His older brother, who is also an educator, developed the first three principles of O.P.D. (Organization, Planning, and Discipline). Reese's older brother requested that he write a story that taught the principles. The story was originally intended for elementary students as a part of a financial literacy program. Later, Reese became a high school teacher, delivering English instruction to a diverse student population in the Philadelphia area. He quickly understood that there was an achievement gap. His students of color performed poorly on standardized reading assessments. Reese noticed that his students felt disconnected from the required readings, and their reading scores revealed that there was a disparity. The stories did not resonate with them. Reese became frustrated. It seemed that he could only find supplemental literature that was high interest but not academically enriching. He began to wonder why literature written for students of color could not be both academically challenging and high interest. Consequently, Reese reworked You Down With O.P.D.?,  extending the short story and crafting it for a more mature audience. He extended the acronym of O.P.D. to also include the principles Opportunity, Purpose, and Decisions. With an English teacher lens and a Reading Specialist background, he revised the story, intentionally including gems that could be mined by analytical readers, while also keeping the story accessible to readers of differing levels. The revised story addresses social emotional issues, contains social justice themes, and encourages students to advocate for change. The novel became the foundation of the O.P.D. Movement, an initiative Reese started with his wife--a fellow teacher and contributor to portions of the novel. After reading the novel with a group of students, Reese and his wife witnessed the power of literature. By imparting the principles through the novel, they realized that story can open doors of opportunity for students, give them a sense of purpose, and influence them to make positive decisions.  It was then that Reese realized You Down With O.P.D.? is literature with a pulse, and it became apparent that O.P.D. is not just a story...it's a movement.