Science Fiction · Free kit
Project Hail Mary
Ryland Grace wakes up on a spaceship with two dead crewmates, a computer that will not tell him his name, and a hole where his memory should be. Piece by piece he remembers: he is a middle-school science teacher with a molecular-biology past, the Sun is being eaten by a microbe called Astrophage, and Earth has sent him on a one-way trip to Tau Ceti to find out why that star is not dying too. Then another ship appears. Funny, nerdy, and unexpectedly tender about friendship, it is a book-club novel about saving two worlds with science — and about the person on the other side of the glass.
“I am scary space monster. You are leaky space blob.”
Complete free book club kit
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Plan your meeting
Project Hail Mary Hosting Guide
A free, printable-minded plan for hosting Project Hail Mary.
Invite hook
“A teacher, a dying Sun, and a fist bump through glass. Bring your curiosity — and do not skip the last chapter.”
The question you’re arguing about: If someone on the other side of a wall helped you save two worlds, would you go home — or stay?
Shopping list
- □Coffee and a pot of tea for a long science-and-feelings discussion
- □Lemonade, juice, and sparkling water
- □Star-shaped shortbread or biscuits (Tau Ceti table snack)
- □Berry smoothies labeled "coma slurry" as a joke — actually drinkable
- □Dark chocolate and granola bars as Hail Mary rations
- □Gold ribbon or fairy lights as a Petrova line down the table
- □Glow sticks in a jar as "xenonite samples," plus beetle name cards: John, Paul, George, Ringo
- □Printed bingo cards, extra pens, and a spare fist-bump reminder at each seat
Day-of timeline
- 0–10 minWelcome, coffee/tea, and icebreakers (fist-bump optional)
- 10–20 minTrivia warm-up — no peeking at the beetles
- 20–55 minMain discussion — Stratt's choice, the turnaround, the Erid classroom
- 55–70 minSpeed debate: force Grace onto the ship, or turn around for Rocky
- 70–80 minBingo, rate the book, pick next month
Surprise touch
Before anyone arrives, put a small card at each seat that says only "What's two plus two?" — the first thing the computer asks Grace. After icebreakers, collect the cards and do a group fist bump, knuckles to a cutting board if you want the xenonite gag. Cheap, specific, and the room is in the book before the first question.
Wrap-up
- □Group photo — bonus prop: a glow stick, a star biscuit, or a beetle name card
- □Quick rating round: 1–5 stars and one word each
- □Vote on next month's book together