THE MAZE RUNNER
By James Dashner

When Thomas wakes up in the dark lift, he remembers nothing about himself except his first name.  When the lift doors open, he is encircled by the faces of boys, maybe 50 or 60 boys, standing in an open glade.  Thomas has a million questions, but the leaders don't seem to be too patient.  However, over the course of several days, he discovers that he has been sent to a place which is enclosed by enormous stone walls.  Every morning, huge doors in the walls open on all four sides of the enclosure, and every evening the doors close.  The boys tell him the walls are for their protection because outside the walls in the maze that surrounds the compound, roam huge terrible bio-mechanical monsters call Grievers.
        Life inside the walls is highly organized with everyone having a specific job.  Supplies come up the lift on a regular basis, and once a month, a new boy arrives.   None of the boys know why they are there, but they believe they are there to figure out how to escape from the maze.  It's all a huge test; everything rests on the ability of the maze runners to figure out where the escape route is.  When there's a new arrival to the glade just one day after Thomas arrives, the first girl ever, the Gladers realize that everything is about to change and that the stakes are higher than ever.  A science fiction novel filled with tense action and terrifying mystery, The Maze Runner is book one of a series, and the reader is left guessing what else can possibly go wrong with the Gladers.  On this year's Texas Lone Star list.  
       --reviewed by Mrs. Sams