Death Games on Planet Boy: Book Review of Maze Runner

 

The Maze Runner by James Dashner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In The Maze Runner, James Dashner’s YA dystopian novel, Thomas wakes with no memory to find himself in a self-sufficient community of boys. The boys have organized themselves and each has a job, from cooking to cleaning to growing crops to raising livestock, each boy has his role—the most dangerous of which is maze running.

The area the boys live in is surrounded by a maze, and the maze runners wake early and return just before sunset, spending their days running through the maze, memorizing turns in order to make maps and look for some kind of escape.

Doesn’t sound so bad, right? Better than slaughtering animals. It would be, if it weren’t for the grievers, mechanical monsters that mostly come out at night, but have also been known to haunt the maze during daylight hours, as well.

Thomas’s arrival is like a slice of pizza from a still hot pie—the cheese pulls and pulls, uncovering the other slices. Any safety the boys thought they had is gone. Any chance of survival relies on solving the maze, and Thomas might be the key the boys need to escape.

As a dystopian novel, the story is very stylized, especially in terms of the all-boy society that has arisen. In many ways, the boys are not stereotypical at all—they get along well and rarely fight. They are totally responsible and no one seems to slack off at their jobs. They are even pretty nice to each other. The Gladers, as they call themselves, are almost the antithesis to Lord of the Flies. As they say, “Sucks to your auntie.”

Would I teach this book? James Dashner does an excellent job of creating a suspenseful and exciting plot that brings up questions such as: Should we sacrifice some for the good of all? What are the limits humans will go to save themselves? What happens when you give children power?

Coincidentally, The Maze Runner is one choice in the dystopian book club based on Units of Study that I am currently teaching. Several of my students are reading the book and seem to be enjoying it so far. I am also enjoying the connections that the Units of Study asks students to make as well as offering students a variety of book choices at different ability levels. So, yes, thumbs up on teaching the book in a middle school class. Keep in mind that there’s a lot of violence, so those who are sensitive might not enjoy it as much. There is also a whole lot of boy, so if you are looking for heroines, you won’t find them here.

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