In the book, the main characters have all been cryogenically preserved and brought back to life. Cryogenic preservation is a real thing, but we don’t yet have the ability to reanimate people. Would you choose to be cryogenically frozen? What are the reasons for your choice? What factors would contribute to your choice? E.g. Family influence? Religious beliefs?
Would you choose cryogenic preservation for someone you loved even if they had not expressed a preference or given consent? What are the reasons for your choice?
What do you think about the choices Calico makes in the story?
Who do you think should be involved in making decisions about an individual’s body/healthcare? E.g. family, doctors, psychologists, teachers, social media, religious leaders? Is it different for children, adults, teenagers…? At what age should children be involved in this decision making? And why?
What do you think about healthcare choices being decided politically? E.g. reproductive healthcare including abortion and contraception, gender identity affirming surgery. Should someone who has never, and can never, experience these issues themselves be making the decisions? Why?
In the story, because the main characters are legally dead, they no longer have any human rights? What does this mean for them? Who gets to decide what it means to be human?
At one point in the story Calico is offered the choice between saving her friend Shimmy or her sister Asha – an impossible choice. How can we make sure we have all the information to make a choice? How can we trust the information we have?
Did you notice any examples of ‘everyday sexism’ in this story?
Did you notice any correlation between things happening in the future world of this story and things happening now in our real world?
What did you think of the title: THINGS I LEARNED WHILE I WAS DEAD? What questions did it bring to mind?
Did you feel a connection to a particular character? What made you feel connected to them?
Asha’s story is told in free verse. Where you expecting this in a sci-fi novel? Why do you think the author chose to write Asha’s story in this way? Did you notice it was written in second person? Why do you think this was? How accessible was it for you? Has it altered your view of what poetry is?
What did you think about the use of different fonts and formatting e.g. Asha’s verse, the Remembering Books? Did these things affect your reading? Make it more or less interesting? How did it affect the way you took in information?
One of the concepts in the book is that the ‘differences’ between people are far less important than the need to save the planet. What did the story make you think about climate change? In our world there are multibillionaires contributing to climate damage through AI and space travel. What do you think about the idea of redefining wealth? What should humans be focusing on?
The future in this story is low tech. No planes etc. Research focuses on biotechnology, which is less damaging to the planet. Many people have put aside their differences to focus on regenerating the planet. How realistic a view of the future do you think this is? How do you imagine the future will be? What can we do to make it happen?
What did you take away from this story? About human rights, bodily autonomy, healthcare choices, the future of the planet?
