How to Steal a Dog

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 is poverty? What social and emotional impact might poverty have on individuals? Is it difficult to escape poverty, or is it something anyone can do?

Teaching Suggestion: Georgina, the novel’s protagonist, lives in a car with her mother and brother because they have recently been evicted from their apartment. Throughout the novel, Georgina’s mother struggles with financial hardships, and Georgina’s living situation isolates her from her peers because she is unable to bathe regularly and fulfill all homework requirements. With sensitivity in mind for individual circumstances, partners might generate a list of social and emotional barriers that arise because of poverty before addressing the prompt privately. Readers might then use these or similar resources for additional context on the paradox of poverty.

• This 5-minute video explains the paradox of poverty, providing an explanation of why poverty is difficult to escape.
• This article describes the social and emotional effects of poverty on children and teens.

2. How should homelessness be defined? What might be some common misconceptions or stereotypes about people who are unhoused?