Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Language: There is no actual swearing in this book, but the teenage boys have developed their own slang which is used in the same way swear words would be used. One of their favorite words is “shuck” which is used in all forms, e.g., “shuck it”, “We’re shucked.” “shuckface”. “Shut your hole” is also used, and  freaking, buggin and friggin are used as adjectives.

Violence:  It is related, after the fact, that a boy was sliced in two while attempting to escape. Wild and out of control, one boy attacks another boy, bites him and tries to kill him. The attacker is shot with an arrow. There are half-machine, half-animal creatures called Grievers which will attack and kill anyone they find in the maze. Throughout the book they are responsible for injuries, deaths and plenty of terror. If stung by a Griever, the victim goes through a gruesome change, during which one boy tries to strangle himself. The victims seem to be under some kind of external control during the change. There is a fair amount of male teenage anger and conflict which often leads to fights. At the end of the book there is an all-out war with the Grievers and half of the boys fighting them are killed. One boy throws a knife, killing another boy. Boys witness a woman being shot repeatedly. The passengers on a bus feel the bump as the vehicle runs over a woman.

Sexual Content: Boys joke about having the first shot at a girl. She comments to one of the boys, referencing a life they can no longer remember, “Maybe we were lovers.”

Adult Themes: There are no adults in the Glade community so the teenage boys are in charge of  setting up rules and employing punishment for breaking them. They must enforce a banishment, which they know will result in certain death for the offender. Adults place teenagers in life threatening situations.

Synopsis

When the elevator brings Thomas to the Glade, he can’t remember anything besides his name. He finds himself the newest member of a self-contained community of teenage boys who grow their own food, make their own rules and try every day to find an escape through the maze that surrounds them. Although he can’t remember why, Thomas knows that the Glade is familiar and that he wants to be a runner, one of the boys who explores the maze searching for its solution.

The day after Thomas arrives, the elevator delivers a girl bearing a cryptic note who he feels connected to in some way. From that point on, things at the Glade start to change and somehow Thomas is in the middle of all of it. With memories he feels are critical dancing just out of his reach, Thomas tries to figure out the keys to their escape from the maze and the Glade.

This is an intense read. I picked it up after my 6th grade son read it and then wished I had read it first! There is a lot of violence and although it isn’t overly graphic, there are some fairy disturbing images in it. My son is dying to read the second one, but I think I’ll read it first this time. Definitely a page turner!

School Library Journal recommends grades 6 – 10. My recommendation would be 8th grade and up.