The events of The Spirit House take place in the large home and yard of a well-to-do family and at the local schools of Julie and Dominic. Julie's home is big enough to have bedrooms for everyone in the family and a guest room for Bia. It has a yard spacious enough for Dominic to place the spirit house where the shadow of the home does not fall. The home represents some of the pride and snobbery of a financially comfortable family; the guest from Thailand is expected to be overawed by the lavishness and scale of the American home. The family is complacently expecting to bask in their guest's gratitude, and Bia's indifference to both the amenities and the size of his bedroom is an early indication of the disappointments ahead.

School for Julie is not so much a place to learn as it is an arena...