In this story Matt and his father move to Maine and set up a homestead, then the father leaves to fetch the rest of the family leaving Matt in charge. The journey takes longer than expected and 13 year old Matt is left to have many adventures on his own. While attempting to retrieve honey from a tree, Matt is attacked by bees. He is rescued by an Indian chief and his grandson, Attean. Matt agrees to teach Attean to read, but in the process learns a lot from Attean. Matt learns that there are two sides to every story. He starts to see how the indian people feel about the white people hunting on the land. Matt learns different ways to do things. He also learns the importance of family.
After our discussion we ground some corn with rocks and made corn meal. The kids discovered that it was hard work. They worked for 10 minutes and only ground about 1 Tablespoon. We also tasted some hasty pudding--a food that Matt ate until a bear snuck into his house and scattered the flour on the floor. I had several toppings available, but most of the kids didn't like it any way.
