Let me tell you why this workbook became my go-to for my 13-year-old with dyslexia. The bite-sized passages (one page!) paired with focused questions kept frustration at bay while building real skills. We'd curl up on the couch, tackle a passage about mummies or pirates, and actually have fun debating the inference questions.

The variety shocked me – one day we're analyzing an Irish famine article, the next we're unpacking a lyric poem. Pro tip: Skip the poetry section if your kid needs more scaffolding (we did), but the nonfiction? Gold. My kid who used to dread reading now asks, 'Can we do the pirate story again?'

Watch out for sneaky layout quirks though! We nearly missed an answer tucked near a header once. And yes, you'll want to pre-read – some answers in the key lack explanations, leaving me scrambling to justify 'correct' choices during our post-lesson chats.

For struggling readers? Magic. My student went from guessing randomly to underlining evidence like a detective. Those 15-minute daily sessions built more confidence than months of traditional drills. Just pair it with a dictionary for vocabulary wins.