As you read about Matt’s struggle to interest Attean in reading, you may be reminded of similar situations in your own life. Perhaps you, like Matt, have tried to get a reluctant learner interested in some project or new skill. Or, perhaps, like Attean, you have been forced into learning something that you thought was of no value to you.
Good readers naturally use their own prior knowledge to help them understand a character’s response to a situation. At this point in the story, with whom do you sympathize more - Attean or Matt? What experience of your own helps you to understand what that character is going through?
