This book has a Hunger Games, Jr feel to it. Thomas finds himself in the "Glade" with no memory of where or who he was in the past. But he's not alone, a number of other boys are also in the Glade with the same problem. They've developed their own working hieracrchy and manage to get by since whoever created the Glade had the foresight to build in all the essentials: farm, slaughterhouse, etc. The kicker is that the Glade is surrounded by a giant wall and each day the wall's gate open and each night, they close. Outside the walls is an giant, ever-changing maze which the runners (maze explorers) dutifully go out into every day trying to find an escape. But the maze changes every day as well, and there are hidden dangers - robotic, yet mythological creatures whose bite or scratch can prove fatal.
All is running normally - as normally as it can in the Glade - when another new child arrives. This child is different. He's a girl. And she's the last new child to ever be brought to the glade.
The writing in this book is fast-paced and exciting, but definitely for the 10 to 14 range, and not really older. While this is a great read, it lacks the weighty ethical issues that I found myself thinking about in The Hunger Games. One thing I loved was the fact that the storyline is so obviously based on King Minos, the Minotaur, and the labyrinth.
Grade: B
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