Look for the Person First

By the end of Book One, Jr and Dakota have learned something the hard way. The doors aren't just levels. Somebody might be inside, and might have been there a long time.

So they make a rule. At every door, before the key, before the fight, before anything else, they look for the person first.

It's a simple rule, and it costs them. Looking for a person is slower than looking for a key. It means sitting on a floor and asking questions when every part of you wants to run for the exit. It means listening to someone who hasn't had anyone to talk to in months, and letting them take as long as they need.

I wanted that promise at the center of the series because it's the kind of thing kids actually do. Not the speeches, the small stuff. Waiting for the slow kid. Going back for the one who got left behind. Saving a seat.

The boys don't always get it right. But they keep the promise every time, and the books keep proving them right: the person first turns out to be the fast way through.

If you're reading along with a kid, this is a good question to ask at the end of Book One: who do you think is behind the next door?

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