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Rot & Ruin

Book #1 of Rot & Ruin
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A Reading Group Guide for

Rot & Ruin
By Jonathan Maberry

Discussion Questions






6. Various forms of entertainment and gambling are mentioned in the book: from the zombie cards to Gameland. How does your opinion of these activities change over the course of the book? What do you take to be the author’s commentary on entertainment in the new world?

7. Consider what Tom tells Benny: “We let fear rule us and guide us, and that’s never the way to win. Never.” Describe a moment when Benny faces fear in the book. What happened? Why? How might it have been different if he did/didn’t let fear take over in that moment?

8. Benny tells Tom that Nix has “collected everything she can about zoms” in her diary. Make a list that describes all the characteristics about zombies in the book. How are they different from how you imagined zombies to be before reading the book? How are they different from living humans? Why do you think the author choose to characterize and differentiate zombies in these ways?

9. Benny is “sad and disgusted” when he realizes that people “pretend that there was no wasteland of zombies outside.” Why is it problematic to pretend that there is no Rot and Ruin?

10. Does Gameland remind you of anything in today’s world? Do you think it might have been based on something from the real world’s past? Why or why not?

11. In what ways does Nix help Benny throughout his journey? In what ways does she pose obstacles to him? How does Benny’s view of her evolve throughout the book? How do his feelings toward her affect him?

12. Lilah says that “knowledge is power.” In what ways do you think that holds true—or doesn’t—in the new world of the novel?

13. Toward the end of the book, Lilah, Nix, and Benny have a short debate about which area is safer—the town or the Rot and Ruin. How did your perception of each area change throughout the book? Can you definitively say which one is safer? Why or why not?

14. Did the book change your opinion of the word “evil”? How would you have defined it before reading and how would you after? Can you point to specific actions or moments in the book that you would characterize as evil?

15. Friendship and family play important thematic roles in the story, including the relationship between Benny and Tom, as well as that of Benny, Lilah, and Nix, as well as in the memories of kin turned into zombies. How do the roles of family and friends affect the actions of characters throughout the book? How do various connections change between characters? What did the book teach you about the meaning of both family and friends?

Photograph by Jonathan Maberry


  • Lincoln Award: Illinois Teen Readers' Choice Master List
  • ALA Best Books For Young Adults
  • Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award Master List
  • Garden State Teen Book Award Nominee (NJ)
  • Texas Lone Star Reading List
  • ALA Quick Picks Nominee
  • Keystone to Reading Book Award (PA)
  • Nutmeg Book Award (CT)
  • Cybils Award
  • South Dakota Young Adult Reading Program
  • Arkansas Teen Book Award Reading List
  • Bram Stoker Award Finalist
  • ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (Top Ten)
  • Gateway Readers Award (MO)

More books from this author: Jonathan Maberry

More books in this series: Rot & Ruin