 O THER
Book
Club
Discussion Guide
BOOKS IN M ARA D YER
TRILOGY
# 2 THE EVOLUTION OF M ARA DYER
# 3 THE RETRIBUTION OF M ARA DYER
Author Information
At the age of sixteen, I lost the rights
not be a reliable narrator of my own
to my soul in a poker game with
life.
pirates just south of Natchez. Shortly
thereafter, I joined an acting troupe
Not buying the pirate story? How
and traveled the world performing
about this:
feats of wonder and mischief before
I grew up in South Florida, went to
writing my first novel, The
college in New York, and attended
Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, and its
law school in Michigan. When I'm not
sequel, The Evolution of Mara Dyer.
writing, I can usually be found prying
The third book in the trilogy, The
strange objects from the jaws of one
Retribution of Mara Dyer, will be out
of my three pets. The Unbecoming of
October 22, 2013. PS: I may or may
Mara Dyer was my first novel.
Photo and author information taken from
Michelle Hodkin’s website:
www.michelle hodkin.com
If you like this Author try . . .
Gone series by Michael Grant
 Gatekeepers series by Anthony Horowitz
 Jack series by F. (Francis) Paul Wilson
Echo falls mystery series by Peter Abrahams
 Secret society series by Tom Dolby
 Blade series by Tim Bowler
 Shadowmancer quartet by G. P. Taylor
 Hunted series by Walter Sorrells
 Traces series by Malcolm Rose


What’s it all about?
Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a
hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.
She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that
killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.
There is.
She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall
in love.
She’s wrong.
W EBSITES
TO CHECK
OUT
Michelle Hodkin’s official
website:
www.michellehodkin.com
Simon & Schuster Reading
Group Guide for The
unbecoming of Mara Dyer:
Discussion Questions
1) Although she is the narrator, we get to
know Mara Dyer as a character rather
gradually in The Unbecoming of Mara
Dyer. What were your first impressions
of Mara? How did your opinion of her
change from the beginning of the book
to the end? Can she be considered an
“unreliable” narrator? Explain.
2) What do you know about post-traumatic
stress disorder? Do you think Mara is
experiencing conditions associated with
this disorder, and how so? Perhaps it’s
something else? Explain using specific
examples from the book.
3) Noah Shaw has a bad reputation around
school, though Mara sees a different
side of him. Why do you think Noah
cultivates this reputations? Do you
think he is right not to correct other
people’s assumptions?
4) What are the qualities of Noah that
attracted Mara? Did Mara fall in love
with Noah at first sight, or did it happen
over time? Was there a particular
turning point that seemed to signify a
shift in their relationship? Do you
believe in love at first sight?
5) Mara asks Noah, “Are you afraid of
anything?” and Noah replies, “I’m
afraid of forgeries.” What does he
mean? What does his response say
about him? What are your own fears?
6) Often we’re faced with discrepancies
between reality and illusion in The
Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. It isn’t
always easy for us, as readers, to
determine what was real or not. What
clues did you look for—or observe, in
retrospect—that helped you determine
what was really happening in Mara’s
life? Do you think the author
deliberately intended for there to be a
discrepancy? Is this why Mara is an
unreliable narrator? What does this
accomplish?
7) What does “real” mean to Noah?
Consider the following excerpts:

Noah: “I’m afraid of forgeries.”

Noah: “No matter what, I’m an
imposter. An actor in my own life.”

Mara, talking to Noah: “And that
made him real.”

Noah, to Mara: “You made me real”
8) Mara thought Noah’s surprise tour of
the art exhibit was a perfect date.
Describe the ingredients of your perfect
dream date, and the significance of each
detail.
9) What happened at the conclusion of The
Unbecoming of Mara Dyer? Explain.
Use evidence from the text to support
your theories.
10) Now, looking back at the very
beginning, how would you explain
Mara’s situation when the story first
opened? What did you learn, later on,
that helped make sense of the story’s
initial disclaimer? Why do you think
Michelle Hodkin chose to introduce The
Unbecoming of Mara Dyer in this
manner?
11) Define “unbecoming,” as it relates to
Mara Dyer.
12) Why do you think Mara is afraid of
needles and nurses? Does her fear seem
irrational or well founded?
13) Were there any clue that Jude might not
be a hallucination? What were the
clues? How do you think having
hallucinations would alter your
perceptions of reality?
The discussion questions came from the Simon and Schuster Reading Group Guide for The unbecoming of Mara Dyer.
books.simonandschuster.com/
Unbecoming-of-Mara-Dyer/
MichelleHodkin/9781442421769/
reading_group_guide
Goodreads’ trivia and quizzes for
The unbecoming of Mara Dyer:
www.goodreads.com/trivia/
work/13460686-the-unbecomingof-mara-dyer
The Mara Dyer Trilogy website:
maradyer.com/
Video interview with Michelle
Hodkin:
books.simonandschuster.com/
Unbecoming-of-Mara-Dyer/
Michelle-Hodkin/Mara-DyerTrilogyThe/9781442421776#video1183306316001
United States of YA Image and
list of books came from Epic
Reads:
www.epicreads.com/blog/theunited-states-of-ya/