Clubs & Classrooms
Whether you’re a teacher, librarian, parent, religious educator, book club member, or just someone who enjoys talking about stories, here are some ideas to explore Molly Flynn beyond the last page.
The Book at a Glance
The Ghost of Molly Flynn is a middle-grade fantasy adventure about a twelve-year-old ghost who has spent three centuries watching the world move on without her—until an undead pirate-sorcerer gives her the chance to become part of it again.
Suggested readers: Middle-grade readers, approximately ages 8–12 (and older readers).
Length: Approximately 51,000 words.
Explore themes including: identity, friendship, found family, growing and changing, morality, choices and consequences, and finding your place in the world.
Study Guides
Want to dig a bit deeper for hidden treasure? These printable guides include chapter-by-chapter questions and ideas for finding what lies beneath the surface of the story.
The Ghost of Molly Flynn Study Guide
A general study guide for classrooms, libraries, homeschoolers, families, and book clubs, with questions for each chapter and prompts for discussing the story’s characters, choices, mysteries, and themes.
UU Religious Education Study Guide
A version created especially for Unitarian Universalist religious education programs, with chapter questions that connect Molly’s journey to UU values, plus opportunities to explore related ideas from faith and wisdom traditions around the world.
Chat About Molly
Just want to have an engaging conversation about the story? Try these prompts at the dinner table, in a classroom, with a book club, or ’round the ol’ campfire—where every good ghost story is even better.
Belonging
Molly has spent centuries feeling that she doesn’t really belong among either the living or the dead. What makes someone feel that they belong somewhere? Can you belong to more than one place or group?
Growing Up
Molly has been physically twelve years old for three hundred years. What does it actually mean to grow up? Which kinds of growth have nothing to do with getting older?
First Impressions
Several characters in the story turn out to be more complicated than they first appear. When does Molly misjudge someone? When do other characters misunderstand her?
Choices
Which choices in the story change things most dramatically? Were there moments when a character could have chosen differently?
Being Seen
For a long time Molly is literally invisible to the people around her. Are there ways someone can feel invisible even when other people can see them?
Adventure
Molly desperately wants something to change—and then gets rather more change than she expected. Why do people sometimes want adventure even when adventure can be frightening?
Try Something
Sometimes the best way to explore a story is to make something of your own.
Join the Crew
Invent a new member of Shadowcloak’s crew. Are they a ghost, skeleton, monster, magician—or something nobody has ever heard of before? What are they good at? What are they terrible at?
Raise Your Own Flag
Shadowcloak used a Jolly Roger that was red instead of the traditional black. Design a pirate flag for your own imaginary ship and crew. What colors and symbols would you use, and what would they tell other sailors about you?
Map an Impossible Place
Create a map of an island, harbor, haunted town, or magical place that might exist somewhere in Molly’s world—or in a world of your own.
Keep a Ship’s Log
Write a log/journal entry from the point of view of Molly or another character after one of the book’s adventures. What might they admit privately that they wouldn’t say aloud?
If Nobody Could See You...
What if you became invisible for one day—what would you do? What might be fun about it? What might turn out to be lonely or difficult?