Summary

Chapter One: “In Which We are Driven Out of Omaha by Alpacas” opens with the main character, Simon, speaking to the reader in first person. He explains that, whenever people ask why his family is moving to the National Quiet Zone - a place with very little technology- he blames alpacas. His father, a Catholic deacon and former liturgical director of one of the biggest churches in Omaha planned the Feast of Saint Francis to bless the animals. The one year he forgot to make a banned animal list, an alpaca panicked heading to the altar, leading to a series of events that got him fired.

Then, in a section titled “A Note about Grin And Bear It,” Simon explains that is the actual name of the town often shortened to GNB. It is tiny and has a...