IF YOU FIND ME
Emily Murdoch
ISBN: 1-250-02152-9 * Hardcover * Griffin * March 2013
READING GROUP GUIDE
About the book:
A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can
remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s
younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their
mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother
disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust
into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.
Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past
that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken
a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk
watching her new life come crashing down.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Beauty and thinness are touted to be everything in society. Carey is thin with a beautiful
face. Would you trade your life for hers, to have those two things?
2. The author has described civilization as being like a photograph, and Carey’s life, the
photonegative. What do you think she means by that?
3. In society today, it’s all too easy to pigeonhole or stereotype people. Carey knew great
misfortune. But she also knew great gifts. What were they?
4. Abuse is a sad fact in modern society. Carey eventually told. Did she do the right thing?
What would you do?
5. Throughout the novel, the reader is shown how books and music became soothing
touchstones for Carey, in an unpredictable world. What are your touchstones?
6. Many people remark on Delaney. Is she really a mean girl, or is she also struggling to
find where she fits in this new, unexpected family?
7. Shorty and Jenessa fit together like Leggo. Why do you suppose this dog was so healing?
8. Carey wants the love of her new family so much, it hurts. Have you ever wanted
something so much, it hurts?
9. Carey has been described as a strong, brave, resourceful heroine. Would she have been
the same if she’d kept her secret?
10. The premise of this book is that love heals. Agree? Disagree?
Want to learn more about Emily Murdoch and her novels?
Visit her at www.EmilyMurdoch.com
Or follow her on Twitter! Twitter.com/leftywritey
Visit her at www.KristinHannah.com to find out how!
