The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Waking up in a pitch-black elevator having no recollection of his life before waking up is just the start of Thomas’ troubles.  Upon exiting the elevator, Thomas is brought to a world in which the only thing that matters is getting out of the Maze they live in.  Along with thirty or so other teenaged boys called “Gladers,” Thomas begins his life trying to figure out where he is, why he is there and why it all feels so familiar.  On his third day there, a young girl, the first girl ever in the Glade, arrives on the elevator half-dead saying everything is going to change.  From then on, Thomas and his new friends race to find a way out of the Maze before being caught by the deadly Grivers.

I picked this book up because I had seen it multiple times as being recommended as one of the best young adult titles and because the storyline was so enticing to me.  One of the things I enjoyed most about this book was the dynamic between the Gladers – how the assigned boys to their jobs, how the chose leaders, how the dealt with conflict and how the governed themselves.  I think it was particularly interesting to see how easily the boys fell into their supposed roles in the Glade and how the majority of them did not question much of what they were told by the older, veteran Gladers.   

This book reminded me of Incarceron by Catherine Fisher and I think it would be a good read-alike for anyone who enjoys reading the Incarceron series.  Both books have a young boy with no memory of his past waking up in a maze – using those he meets along the way to find an escape.  I would also recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding in high school because of the similarities between the Gladers and the boys found in Golding’s novel.