Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What does it mean to live “off the grid”? What are some benefits of a lifestyle that is mostly isolated from contemporary society?

Teaching Suggestion: Capricorn and his grandmother Rain live away from society, so exploring and discussing this lifestyle choice before reading can offer students necessary background. Students might begin by listing potential benefits and questions they have, utilizing these and similar resources for additional context. They could categorize these benefits and questions based on topic (e.g., impact on an individual’s education). As they read the novel, students can pause and compare and contrast their ideas and novel details. Students could return to these resources later and discuss what Rain, Capricorn, or other novel characters might say about these choices at various moments in the novel. Students could even write a dialogue using character voices as they discuss these ideas.

• In this article from Time, Joshua Spodek explains how and why he lives off the grid in the middle of New York City.
• In this 5-minute listen from 2022, NPR talks with a family who decided to live off-grid.