Reading guide for Sugar Run by Mesha Maren

Reading Guide Questions

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Have you ever loved a place so much that you were willing to do anything to get back there? Why do you think Jodi is so obsessed with her grandmother's land? How do her dreams and expectations compare to what it is actually like to return?
2. What do you think is the difference between being "of" a place and being "from" a place? Lynn is a transplant to West Virginia and she clearly considers it home, but she knows that she is not accepted there. What do you think of her relationship to West Virginia and its possible destruction through fracking as compared to Jodi's or Farren's?
3. Jodi and Miranda never talk openly about their relationship or their sexual identities. How important do you think it is to articulate an attraction or relationship like that?
4. Jodi is selfless in many ways, and often puts herself in precarious situations to help Ricky, Miranda, and others. Can you relate to this? Why or why not?
5. A number of the characters in Sugar Run keep secrets from one another. Why is this? What is it that secrets allow us to have?
6. The book examines family and community from a number of angles: blood family, chosen family, and community bonds. What are your thoughts on the effects of family and spontaneous communities, both in the book and in your own experience?
7. As with many formerly incarcerated individuals, Jodi struggles to find a job after prison, which makes her more vulnerable to making bad decisions. How might communities help formerly incarcerated people better reintegrate into society?
8. In what ways do sibling relationships affect the novel?
9. What is your definition of loyalty? What role does loyalty play in Sugar Run?
10. Jodi struggles to talk openly to anyone in West Virginia about her sexuality. What do you think might have happened had she revealed her sexual orientation to her family and town community?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Algonquin Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.