The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Rohan | Marlboro Memorial Middle School, Grade 7

Rating: ****

Thomas wakes up in an elevator. He has no memory of his past, and has no idea what he's doing here. The elevator brings Thomas to the glade, which is an area full of boys. It’s run by two boys: Alby, the leader, and Newt, second in command. Every month, a boy with no memory is brought up by the elevator, and every week, supplies are brought. But things occur during the night. Mechanical monsters known as Grievers come to terrorize the kids. They are a fusion of technology and biology. Grievers have flesh, but their skeleton and their appendages are made of metal. But something would come that would change everything forever.

A day after Thomas’s arrival, a girl known as Teresa comes, and she is the last kid to ever come into the Glade. This sparks a series of changes known as “The Ending”, which ends up changing everyone’s life forever. Stranger and stranger things occur, such as Grievers becoming murderous. The grievers require that one Glader must die every night. A series of events unfolds that leads the Gladers to find out the true nature of the Glade. What happens next? Find out in The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

Jack | Biotechnology High School, Grade 10

Rating: ***

Thomas wakes up in a mysterious elevator with no memories, safe his name. He is disposed of in the middle of the Glade, a society run solely by teenage boys that went through the same experience Thomas had just undergone. Want another twist, the Glade is in the middle of a giant maze, one that changes orientation every night. Thomas decides to help the Gladers so they can all get their freedom, but the ghosts of his past come back to haunt him and make for a tension-filled, exciting plot that just gets better in the sequel.

A set in the distant future, The Maze Runner is a thrilling dystopian novel that will make the reader want to continue on to finally solve the mystery. Although the plot can be slow at times, Dashner is able to pick it up in drama, action, and relationship changes (both friendship wise and romantically). The first in a trilogy, The Maze Runner is a must-read for any sci-fi and action lovers.