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			{{Short description\|2009 novel by James Dashner}}
	{{Use mdy dates\|date=June 2012}}
			{{other uses}}
	{{Infobox book
			{{Use dmy dates\|date=December 2017}}
	\| name = The Maze Runner
			{{Infobox book
	\| image = ]
			\| name = The Maze Runner
	\| caption =
	\| ~~author~~ = ]		\| image = The Maze Runner cover.png
			\| caption = 2009 edition cover
	\| cover_artist = Philip Straub
	\| ~~country~~ = ~~United~~ ~~States~~		\| author = ]
			\| website = <!-- official series website or none; not jamesdashner.com -->
	\| language = American English
			\| cover_artist = Philip Straub
	\| genre = ], ], ], ]
	\| ~~publisher~~ = ]		\| country = United States
	\| ~~pub_date~~ = ~~October 2009~~		\| language = English
			\| series = ]
	\| media_type = Print (hardcover and paperback)
			\| genre = ], ], ]
	\| pages = 374
			\| published = October 6, 2009
	\| isbn = 978-0-385-73794-4
			\| publisher = ]
	\| dewey=
			\| media_type = Print (] and ]), ], ]
	\| congress= PZ7.D2587Maz 2009
			\| pages = 375 pp.<ref name=LCC/>
	\| oclc=
			\| isbn = 978-0-385-73794-4
	\| preceded_by = ]<ref name="KillOrder">{{cite press release\|url=http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/mazerunner/kill-order-press-release.php\|title=The Kill Order to be published in August 2012\|publisher=Delacorte Press\|location=New York\|date=November 21, 2011\|accessdate=November 24, 2011}}</ref>
			\| isbn_note = (first edition, hardcover)
	\| followed_by = ]<ref name="desnews-nov2009">{{cite web\|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705347173/Maze-Runner-on-right-track.html\|title='Maze Runner' on 'right track'\|first=Aaron\|last=Shill\|publisher=]\|date=November 25, 2009\|accessdate=December 19, 2009\|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5m8K6eosT\|archivedate=December 19, 2009}}</ref>
			\| congress = PZ7.D2587Maz 2009<ref name=LCC> (first edition). LC Online Catalog. Library of Congress (lccn.loc.gov). Retrieved 13 November 2016.</ref>
	\|
			\| oclc = 299381315
	}}
			\| preceded_by = ] (in narrative order)
			\| followed_by = ]<ref name="desnews-nov2009">{{cite web \|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705347173/Maze-Runner-on-right-track.html \|title='Maze Runner' on 'right track' \|first=Aaron \|last=Shill \|publisher=] \|date=25 November 2009 \|access-date=19 December 2009 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029200943/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705347173/Maze-Runner-on-right-track.html \|url-status=dead \|archive-date=29 October 2013}}</ref>
			}}
			'''''The Maze Runner''''' is a 2009 ] novel by American author ]. It takes place in a world suffering from a ] and whose surviving civilians fight to avoid an ] illness called the Flare. It is written from the perspective of Thomas, a 16-year-old boy who wakes up with no memories inside an artificially produced maze. An organization called WICKED controls the world politically, seeks a cure to the Flare, and uses the youngest generation of civilians who are immune to it as test subjects.

			The book received critical acclaim from major reviewers and authors. It won the ] Best Fiction for Young Adults award in 2011,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web \|title=2011 Best Fiction for Young Adults \|url=https://www.ala.org/yalsa/2011-best-fiction-young-adults \|access-date=2024-09-27 \|website=Young Adult Library Services Association \|publisher=American Library Association \|language=en}}</ref> is a #1 ] and was on the list for 148 weeks,<ref>{{Cite news \|date=August 23, 2015 \|title=Children's & Young Adult Series Books - Best Sellers - Books \|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2015/08/23/series-books/. \|access-date=2024-09-27 \|work=The New York Times \|language=en-US \|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and was a '']'' Teen Book of the Year. ''The Maze Runner'' is a popular pick by educators teaching middle-grade readers in schools.
	'''''The Maze Runner''''' is the first book in a ] ] science fiction trilogy of the same name by ].<ref name="desnews-nov2009"/><ref name="pubweek-may2009">{{cite web\|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6661800.html?q=maze+runner\|title=BookExpo America 2009: Parsing the Good ‘WTF’ Literary Moments from the Bad at First YA Buzz Panel\|publisher=]\|first=Rachel\|last=Deahl\|date=May 30, 2009\|accessdate=December 19, 2009}} {{Dead link\|date=October 2010\|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> The novel was published October 2009 by ], an imprint of ]. The book was shopped around and is currently in production for a major motion picture by 20th Century Fox. James Dashner announced in November 2011 that he was writing a prequel to ''The Maze Runner'' titled '']'', which was released August 14, 2012.<ref name="KillOrder"/>

			The novel was published in 2009 by ], an imprint of ] with cover art by Philip Straub. ''The Maze Runner'' is the first novel in ''The Maze Runner'' series, followed by '']'' (2010) and '']'' (2011). A ], directed by ], was released in 2014 by ] and stars ] as Thomas.
	==Summary==
	Thomas, the main character, wakes up in a elevator without the memory of his past life. He is welcomed into a large area called the Glade, populated by a group of sixty or so teenage boys called "Gladers". The Glade is surrounded by massive concrete walls, beyond which lie an enormous maze. All Gladers have arrived the same way as Thomas: one every month, with memories wiped. The first Glader arrived approximately two years before. Every week, essential supplies are delivered to the Glade. Thomas meets several Gladers including Alby (leader), Newt (second-in-command), Minho (head of Runners), Gally (Thomas's rival), and Chuck (Thomas's good friend). Newt explains to Thomas that the large openings into the Maze on each wall close at night and the walls to the Maze shift during that time. If a Runner is trapped in there, they are most likely to be stung by Grievers, the Maze's half-animal, half-machine inhabitants. If a Runner is found stung, they must be injected with a serum that causes them to go through an extremely painful process called the Changing, where you temporarily regain memories of your past life. Those stung and injected by the Serum are still uncertain to survive. Victims of the Changing including Gally and a boy called Ben, both of whom they claim to have seen Thomas in their memory as someone "bad". Despite the horrors of the Maze, Thomas feels a strange urge to be a Runner.

			== Plot ==
	The day after Thomas' arrival, a girl is delivered to the Glade in the Box, arriving with a message that says that she is the last one, but then falls into a deep coma. Soon after, in the forest section of the Glade, Ben attacks Thomas and Alby comes to his rescue, firing an arrow at Ben's cheek and banishing him into the Maze at night after he survives the arrow.
			A boy named Thomas wakes up in a metal elevator that brings him to a place called the Glade. He has no memory of how he got there or who he is aside from his name. He gradually discovers that the Glade is run by two boys: Alby, the leader, and Newt, his second-in-command, who maintain order by enforcing simple rules. The elevator box surfaces from under the ground once every week and brings supplies of food, tools, clothes, medicine, and sometimes weapons. Every month, a new boy with no memory of anything but his first name also appears in the box.

			The Glade is enclosed by concrete walls several hundred feet high. The walls have openings in them which slide shut every night. Outside the walls is the Maze, a labyrinth made of high concrete walls covered in ivy that change configuration every night. The Maze houses strange, lethal creatures of metal and flesh known as Grievers. The group of boys, who call themselves Gladers, try to stay alive as well as to solve the Maze by appointing "Runners" to run through it as fast as they can while tracking the movements of the walls and trying to find an exit.
	While inspecting a "dead" Griever, Alby gets stung by a Griever in the Maze, and he and Minho cannot make it back to the Glade in time. Thomas impetuously breaks a rule and bolts out in the Maze just before the Doors close. Miraculously, he and Minho survive the night and figure out where the Grievers come from - a seemingly empty space off the edge of a cliff. They return with Alby the following morning, who is immediately taken in by Med-jacks - the closest things the Gladers have to doctors. However, since Thomas broke the Number One Rule and deliberately trapped himself in the Maze during night, The Glade leaders/Keepers have a meeting regarding Thomas's possible punishment or praise, Newt replacing Alby as leader since Alby is being treated by the Med-jacks. During the meeting, Newt points out that Thomas has been involved with many recent strange events. Gally thinks that he is a spy from the Creators and he should hold a severe punishment. Minho surprises Thomas, nominating him to replace him as Keeper of the Runners. Minho and Gally get into an argument where Minho physically and verbally torments Gally, resulting in Gally storming out of the meeting and his thoughts of Thomas's wickedness resulting in him disappearing from the Glade.

			One day, after Thomas' arrival, a girl named Teresa, is delivered through the elevator into the Glade. She is the first girl to arrive at the Glade and is clutching a note that says, "She's the last one. Ever." She says Thomas' name at one point during a week-long coma. Later that day a boy named Ben, who was stung by a Griever and went through the "Changing", tries to kill Thomas. Alby saves Thomas and Ben is banished.
	The leaders/Keepers come to the conclusion that Thomas should spend one day in the Slammer, their makeshift prison, but Thomas will begin his training as a Runner after his day in the Slammer. After the meeting, Thomas is called to speak to a sick Alby, who wishes to see him. Alby also claims he saw Thomas during the Changing, before going into a physical spasm. Afterwards, Thomas is asked by Newt to sit down next the girl, who is still in a coma, and see if he feels any memories regarding her lingering. The girl, revealing her name to be Teresa, speaks to him through ] and briefly explains that she and Thomas are the last Gladers and that they have to pass the Trials. She also says that "they" sent her as a trigger and that everything's going to change. Thomas panics and bolts out of the room and into the Maze, eventually coming to his senses and re-entering the Glade.

			Minho, the Keeper of the Runners, goes into the Maze with Alby to see what they think might be the first dead Griever. Alby is stung by the creature and attacks Minho, who knocks Alby out. Minho carries Alby back to the Glade but by the time they arrive, the doors to the Glade are already closing. Thomas runs into the maze to help, becoming stranded with Minho and Alby. When they hear the sounds of Grievers approaching, Minho runs away, knowing they don't have a chance of survival, while Thomas uses the ivy on the maze walls to pull Alby up. Minho later comes back to help Thomas, and by morning they have killed four of the Grievers by leading them off a cliff.
	After his day in the Slammer, Thomas begins to be trained by Minho to become a Runner. He is given a digital watch and a pair of running shoes and Minho shows him around to various rooms that hold objects essential to the Maze. First Thomas is shown a secret room where all weapons are kept. He is then shown the Map Room, where Runners keep maps of each section of the Maze to keep track of patterns. There are eight sections with a Runner to explore each section. After Thomas learns the basics, he and Minho venture out into the Maze for Minho to demonstrate a daily exploration. While they are out in the Maze, Thomas notices a sign that reads “World In Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department”. This is later revealed to be an organization that monitors the Glade through small insect-like robots called "beetle-blades." Thomas observes that each beetle-blade had "WICKED" stamped on their torso. The pair continue running all day and Thomas hears Teresa say telepathically to Tom, "I just triggered the Ending". The following morning, the Gladers wake up to find the sky is a dull grey, sunless and unchanging. They also discover that there are no weekly supplies from the Box and that Teresa is fully awake. She sends Thomas a telepathic message simply saying that the Maze is a code.

			After returning to the Glade the next morning, Newt calls a Gathering of the Keepers to discuss what to do with Thomas. Some of the Keepers vote to grant him clemency, but others, specifically Gally, vote to lock him up as a punishment. Minho nominates Thomas to become the Keeper of the Runners, but Gally disagrees with this. Gally and Minho threaten each other, and the discussion ends with Gally storming off. Newt, as interim head of the Gathering due to Alby's condition, proposes sending Thomas to the Slammer (their version of prison) for a day, and then having him start training to become a Runner. Without an official vote, the Keepers decide to go with Newt's plan.
	A short while later, Teresa meets Thomas in the forest section of the Glade and explains what little she remembers from her coma. She shows him some writing that she jotted down on her arm that says "WICKED is good". This was one of her memories that she was afraid she might lose, therefore she jotted it down on her arm.

			Alby asks to see Thomas alone and tries to tell him something he has seen during the Changing that had to do with Thomas. Before he can give Thomas any real information, Alby starts trying to choke himself. With Newt's help, Thomas manages to stop him. Alby then says that someone was controlling his actions.
	That night, the Maze Doors don't close at night and Alby has Teresa dumped in the Slammer because they are all at risk of being attacked by Grievers in the night. Everyone boards up the doors and windows of the Homestead - the wooden living building in a top corner of the Glade - and Thomas has the Runners go to the Map Room to study the maps before nightfall. The Grievers then attack in the night and Gally makes an abrupt return, saying that the Grievers will take the life of one person each night until they all die. Gally then throws himself to a Griever, the monsters then retreating back into the Maze. It is later discovered that in the night all of the maps were burned.

			Teresa wakes from her coma, and tells Thomas telepathically that she triggered the Ending. The food is running low, the sky is permanently gray, the box is not coming up, and at night the Maze doors stay open. Alby decides that he'll go into the Map Room and analyze the maps to see if he can find any patterns. Gally comes back that night and says that the Grievers will come every night now, killing them all off one by one. When the Grievers enter the Homestead, where the Gladers have been hiding, Gally throws himself at them and they leave.
	In the morning it is revealed that the maps that were burned were ], and they still have the original maps in place. Thomas then decodes the maze by tracing maps of each section of the Maze onto wax paper and layering the shapes on top of each other to form six words: FLOAT, CATCH, BLEED, DEATH, STIFF, and PUSH. The six words make no sense to anyone, so Thomas deliberately gets stung by a Griever the following night in order to regain his memory.

			The next morning, they find out that Alby has tried to burn all the maps. Thomas later discovers that Minho and Newt secured the maps in the Weapons Room a couple of hours earlier, saving them. Thomas gets the idea to compare each map to the maps of other sections as opposed to with other days, and, after copying a few maps onto wax paper and layering them by day, they find that the first combination spells FLOATCAT. After copying more maps and layering them, they find that the complete code spelled out by the Maze is: "FLOAT CATCH BLEED DEATH STIFF PUSH".
	After Thomas has recovered from the Changing, Thomas calls a Gathering and explains to the leaders/Keepers that they are supposedly more intelligent than most human beings and were given random nicknames to outline this (e.g. Thomas = ]; Alby = ]; Newt = ]; Chuck = ] and Ben = ]). He explains that WICKED placed them in the Maze to study their brain patterns and that he, Teresa, and two others were forced to help build the Maze and that the only way out is through the Griever Hole. Beyond the Griever hole lies a computer where they must type in the six code words, shutting down the Grievers and uncovering an exit out of the Maze.

			During the following nights, the Grievers come back and take one Glader per night.
	The majority of the Gladers agree to the plan and they head out into the Maze. Alby, however, decides he does not want to return to the world outside because he has memories of a disease called the Flare and a place that is far worse than the Glade. Alby then sacrifices himself to the Grievers, not only because he didn't want to return to the outside world but to give the others a chance to escape from the Grievers patrolling the area. When they reach the Cliff, Thomas, Teresa, and Chuck fight their way through a group of waiting Grievers, jump into the Griever hole, and type in the passwords. Minho enters afterwards and tells them that about half of the Gladers died fighting. When all the survivors come into the Hole, they head down a hallway, down a slide and find the Creators - the people who monitored them in the Maze - standing behind a glass wall in a lab. A lady then walks in with Gally, who actually survived, and was taken away to perform a final experiment. Gally tries to tell Thomas that they are controlling him before hurling a dagger at Thomas. Chuck leaps in front of Thomas to take the dagger and dies in his hands. Thomas then attacks Gally, but is quickly pulled away. After this, a group of civilians enter, shoot down the woman and the Creators with ] and take the surviving Gladers to a bus where they explain why all these events have been occurring.

			Realizing that they need to get their memories back, Thomas voluntarily gets stung by a Griever and spends a couple of days unconscious as he goes through the Changing. When he wakes up, he knows they have to go down the Griever Hole to escape the Maze and insert the code into a machine they will find. He also remembers part of the world they came from, including about WICKED (World in Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department) and his own participation in the creation of the Maze.
	Not long ago, massive sun flares hit earth, which burned satellites and killed millions instantly, starting the terrible disease Alby called the Flare. The ecosystems on Earth fell apart and vast expanses became wastelands. The woman explaining the events tells them their rescuers are part of a group fighting against WICKED. Two hours later, the bus stops and they enter a large safe house in the form of a ]. The surviving Gladers, which now include Newt, Minho, Thomas, Frypan (the Gladers' previous cook), and Teresa all settle down into bed and Thomas has a casual telepathic discussion with Teresa (as she is placed in a different room).

			Using this new information, most of the Gladers leave to try and jump down the Griever Hole. Almost half of them die in the fight against the Grievers, but Thomas and Teresa manage to insert the code, with help from Chuck to realize that "PUSH" means to push a button instead of being the last word of the code.
	The epilogue is a memo from a WICKED worker revealing that the rescue was staged and that another Maze exists. There is also another group, which is group B.

			After exploring the facility, the remaining Gladers find themselves in a room with scientists watching them. One of the scientists walks out, accompanied by Gally. Gally throws a knife at Thomas, but Chuck dives in front of him, sacrificing himself for Thomas.
	=Characters=

	*'''Thomas''': The main character of the book. He is the newest boy at the Glade. He tries to solve the maze and later begins a very close friendship with Teresa.
			A rescue team comes crashing in seconds later, killing all the scientists and taking the Gladers with them to another facility, where they have dinner and go to sleep.
	*'''Gally''': A boy who went through the Changing and who doesn't trust Thomas. Also Keeper of the Builders.

	*'''Minho''': Keeper of the Runners (the people who explore the maze that surrounds the Glade), he helps Thomas.
			The epilogue is written in the voice of Chancellor Ava Paige, a feature that recurs in of all the trilogy's novels. She reveals that the group that rescued the Gladers is just another variable in the experiment and that the Gladers were not the only group being evaluated; the next day, the second phase of their trials will begin.
	*'''Chuck''': A younger boy, the last "newbie" until Thomas shows up, befriends Thomas when showing him The Glade.

	*'''Teresa''': The first girl to show up in the Glade, she and Thomas have telepathic powers, and later in the book they develop a very close friendship.
			==Characters==
	*'''Alby''': The "leader" of the Gladers, later becomes friends with Thomas.
			; '''Thomas''': The ] of the novel. The only thing he can remember when he comes into the Glade is his name, a common pattern amongst the Gladers. Chuck describes him as about 16 years old, of average height, and brown-haired. He is called "Greenie", a nickname given to new arrivals. He becomes a Runner with Minho after he and Minho are the first to spend the night in the Maze, and saves Alby when he is about to die.
	*'''Newt''': Second in command as leader, later on a friend to Thomas.
			; '''Teresa''': One of the main characters. The first girl and last person to enter the Glade. When she enters the Glade she is in a ]. She calls "Tom". She helps Thomas get out of the maze and fight the Grievers in the Griever Hole. She is thin and has black hair, blue eyes, and relatively pale skin.
	*'''Other characters''': Frypan, Ben, Zart, several other keepers, or people who are in charge. At the end of the book, some of the mysterious "Creators" are revealed, though none by name.
			; '''Alby''': The eldest and the leader of the Gladers. He is described as a "dark-skinned boy with short-cropped hair, his face clean-shaven." He tries to keep order within the group and keep them all alive by having all the boys follow rules. He has a close relationship with Newt, his second-in-command. He was in the group of 30 who first arrived in the Glade. Alby commits suicide by walking into a group of Grievers, thinking that he should die there rather than outside the Maze.
			; ''' Newt''': One of the main characters. He is good friends with Thomas and Minho. He used to be a Runner but is no longer able since he was nearly attacked by a Griever. He is kind, friendly, and welcoming to Thomas. He is Alby's closest friend and second-in-command and takes over as leader when Alby is no longer capable. Newt is described as being "tall and muscular," with blond hair that comes down over his shoulders and a square jaw. He has a limp that he says is from running from a Griever, but the real reason is revealed in the third book to be an attempted suicide. Newt is older than Thomas.
			;''' Minho''': One of the main characters. He is the Keeper of the Runners, and is in charge of navigating and mapping out the Maze. As a Runner, he is in very good shape and is described as "an Asian kid with strong, heavily muscled arms and short black hair." He is sarcastic and a jokester. He tends to react without thinking, which leads him into trouble. He and Thomas quickly become good friends.

			; '''Chuck''' ''(deceased)'': A young and chubby boy with curly hair who was the newest Glader until Thomas arrived. He immediately becomes friends with Thomas and acts like a little brother with him. Chuck is a "Slopper", one of the Gladers who handle the distasteful jobs the others do not want. He is around 13 years old. He is killed by Gally after the latter throws a dagger at Thomas and Chuck saves him.
			; ''' Gally''': The main antagonist. Gally is a Glader who lives by the rules Alby put in place. He does not trust Thomas and shows an immense dislike for him. He is the Keeper of the Builders. He runs away from the Glade in a fit of rage after an argument at the Gathering about Thomas. At the end of the book, he throws a dagger at Thomas and ends up killing Chuck when the latter throws himself in front of it.
			; '''Ben''': A Builder. After undergoing the Changing and attempting to kill Thomas, he is banished to the Maze and dies overnight.
			; '''Ava Paige''': The chancellor of WICKED and the person responsible for sending teenagers into the Maze. She appears in the epilogue in an e-mail.
			; ''' Grievers''': Biomechanical creatures that hunt and kill the Gladers in the maze. They are described as "large, bulbous creature the size of a cow but with no distinct shape." In the Ending, they are let into the Glade to kill one person every day.

	==Development==		==Development==
	In ~~the fall of~~ 2005, Dashner had ~~published~~ ~~four books to complete ''The Jimmy Fincher Saga'', which had been with a small regional publisher. His publisher wanted him to write another book, but he decided he would try~~ for a ~~national~~ book ~~market instead. In November of that year he had an idea when going to bed~~ about, "a bunch of teenagers living inside an unsolvable Maze full of hideous creatures, in the future, in a dark, dystopian world. It would be an experiment, to study their minds. Terrible things would be done to them. ~~Awful~~ things. ~~Completely~~ hopeless. ~~Until~~ the victims turn everything on its head."<ref ~~name="tale"~~>{{~~cite~~ web\|first=~~James~~\|~~last~~=Dashner\|url=~~http~~://~~jamesdashner~~.~~blogspot~~.com/~~2008~~/~~07/tale~~-of-~~maze~~-~~runner~~.~~html~~\|title=~~The~~ ~~Tale~~ of ~~The~~ Maze Runner~~\|publisher=~~The ~~Dashner~~ ~~Dude~~\|date=~~July~~ ~~16, 2008~~\|~~accessdate~~=~~February~~ 5, ~~2012~~}}</ref> Dashner wrote ~~the~~ ~~book~~ from December 2005 to March 2006.<ref name="tale" />		In November 2005, Dashner had an idea for a book "about a bunch of teenagers living inside an unsolvable Maze full of hideous creatures, in the future, in a dark, dystopian world. It would be an experiment, to study their minds. Terrible things would be done to them – awful things; completely hopeless – until the victims turn everything on its head." During his writing process, he envisions the novels as movies.<ref>{{Cite web \|last=Raman \|first=Kaavya \|date=2015-11-23 \|title=James Dashner: A Brilliant Mind \|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/james-dashner-a-brilliant_b_8616972 \|access-date=2024-04-25 \|website=HuffPost \|language=en}}</ref> One of the influences for the book was '']''.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web \|last=Wasley \|first=Alice \|date=2015-09-17 \|title=Talking to Author James Dashner about Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials \|url=https://www.motionpictures.org/2015/09/talking-to-author-james-dashner-about-maze-runner-the-scorch-trials/ \|access-date=2024-04-25 \|website=Motion Picture Association \|language=en-US}}</ref> Dashner wrote ''The Maze Runner'' from December 2005 to March 2006 and it was published in 2008.<ref name="tale">{{cite web \|last=Dashner \|first=James \|date=16 July 2008 \|title=The Tale of The Maze Runner \|url=http://jamesdashner.blogspot.com/2008/07/tale-of-maze-runner.html \|access-date=February 5, 2012 \|website=The Dashner Dude \|publisher=}}</ref>

	==Reception==		==Reception==
	~~Book retailer~~ ] ~~included the book as part~~ of ~~its showcasing of new writers for the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010.<ref name="desnews-nov2009"/>~~ '']'' ~~wrote,~~ "Hard to put down, this is clearly just a first installment, and it will leave readers dying to find out what comes next".<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/james-dashner/the-maze-runner/\|title=The Maze Runner\|work=]\|date=~~September~~ 15, 2009\|~~accessdate~~=February 5, ~~2012~~}}</ref>		'']'' wrote of ''The Maze Runner'': "Hard to put down, this is clearly just a first installment, and it will leave readers dying to find out what comes next."<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/james-dashner/the-maze-runner/ \|title=The Maze Runner \|work=] \|date=15 September 2009 \|access-date=5 February 2012}}</ref> Jessica Harrison of the '']'' labeled ''The Maze Runner'' as "a thrilling adventurous book for kids ages 13+ that will get readers' hearts pumping and leave them asking for more," though she noted the "fictionalized slang" as a drawback.<ref name="des news-oct2001">{{cite web \|last=Harrison \|first=Jessica \|date=3 October 2009 \|title=''Maze Runner'' provides a thrilling adventure \|url=https://www.deseret.com/2009/10/4/20343925/maze-runner-provides-a-thrilling-adventure/ \|access-date=27 September 2024 \|website=] \|publisher=}}</ref>

			The novel won the 2011 ] Award presented by the ].<ref name=":0" /> It won the Charlotte Award in 2012, an award given to outstanding literature for children as voted on by students in ].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web \|date= \|title=The Maze Runner \|url=https://penguinrandomhousesecondaryeducation.com/book/?isbn=9780385737951 \|access-date=2024-09-27 \|website=Penguin Random House Secondary Education \|language=en}}</ref> It also won the Lincoln Award in 2012, an award sponsored by the Illinois School Library Educators for literature encouraging high school readers to read for personal enjoyment.<ref>{{Cite web \|title=Lincoln Award: Illinois Teen Readers' Choice Award \|url=https://www.librarything.com/award/130/Lincoln-Award-Illinois-Teen-Readers-Choice-Award+. \|access-date=2024-09-27 \|website=LibraryThing \|language=en}}</ref> ''The Maze Runner'' won the Truman Readers Award in 2012, an award for literature which encourages young readers between the sixth and eighth grades.<ref>{{Cite web \|title=Truman Readers Award \|url=https://www.librarything.com/award/684/Truman-Readers-Award. \|access-date=2024-09-27 \|website=LibraryThing \|language=en}}</ref> The book also received the Evergreen Teen Book Award in 2012 and Georgia Peach Book Award in 2009. It was nominated for the Utah Book Award for Young Adults in 2009 and the Pennsylvania Young Readers’ Choice Award in 2011.<ref name=":1" />
	Jessica Harrison of the '']'' labeled ''The Maze Runner'' as "a thrilling adventurous book for kids ages 13+ that will get readers' hearts pumping and leave them asking for more." She noted that it "starts out a bit slow" but as it matched Thomas's confusion and picked up pace as he became more accustomed, she wrote that "it's almost as if Dashner is easing the reader into what becomes a fast-paced, nonstop action." However, she thought the "only drawback" was the "fictionalized slang" that although it "feels realistic and fits with his characters, it gets old pretty fast. On the plus side, however, it's used so often that the reader almost becomes desensitized and learns to ignore it."<ref name="desnews-oct2009">{{cite web\|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705334045/Maze-Runner-provides-a-thrilling-adventure.html\|title='Maze Runner' provides a thrilling adventure\|first=Jessica\|last=Harrison\|publisher=]\|date=October 3, 2009\|accessdate=December 19, 2009\|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5m8LCdiKP\|archivedate=December 19, 2009}}</ref>

			Christy Goldsmith of the ] noted that she used ''The Maze Runner'' in her secondary classroom to teach ], how to interact with fiction, and that “reading doesn’t have to be painful.”<ref>{{Cite journal \|last=Goldsmith \|first=Christy \|date=2016 \|title=Speaking My Mind: Why All Students Need Literature More Than Ever \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26450225 \|journal=The English Journal \|volume=106 \|issue=2 \|pages=111–113 \|doi=10.58680/ej201628820 \|jstor=26450225 \|issn=0013-8274}}</ref> In the '']'', Sara Abrams of ] recommended ''The Maze Runner'' to middle school students, writing, "readers who seek adventure and are curious about living on their own will find ''The Maze Runner'' an engaging read” and comparing it to ''Lord of the Flies''.<ref>{{Cite journal \|last=Abrams \|first=Sara \|date=2010 \|title=Review of The Maze Runner \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20775378 \|journal=Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy \|volume=54 \|issue=2 \|pages=158–159 \|jstor=20775378 \|issn=1081-3004}}</ref> Sandra Bennet wrote in '']'' that the book is "an absorbing and tense novel which mid to older teens will devour."<ref>{{Cite journal \|last=Bennett \|first=Sandra \|date=2010 \|title=Dashner, James: The Maze Runner \|journal=The School Librarian \|volume=58 \|issue=3}}</ref>
	==Film adaptation==
	A film version of ''The Maze Runner'' from ] was announced, with ] signed on as director and ] hired as screenwriter.<ref>{{cite web\|first=Steven\|last=Zeitchik\|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/01/the-maze-runner-james-dashner-noah-oppenheim-catherine-hardwicke-movie.html\|title=Young-adult sensation 'The Maze Runner' gets ready to run the movie gantlet (Updated)\|work=The Los Angeles Times\|date=January 4, 2011\|accessdate=February 5, 2012}}</ref> ] will play the lead role of Thomas. <ref>http://hollywoodcrush.mtv.com/2013/04/18/the-maze-runner-dylan-obrien</ref>

			== Film adaptation ==
	] was later named to direct, with a script by ].<ref>{{cite web\|first=Travis\|last=Hopson\|url=http://www.punchdrunkcritics.com/2012/08/wes-ball-to-direct-maze-runner.html\|title=Wes Ball to direct 'The Maze Runner'\|work=Punch Drunk Critics\|date=August 24, 2012\|accessdate=August 24, 2012}}</ref> ] is to serve as an artist on the film and ], ] and ] as producers.<ref>{{cite web\|first=\|last=\|url=https://twitter.com/Melihasnewideas/status/276725770322321409\|title=We have @jamesdashner The Dashner Dude, then we got @wesball Mr Director Dude and now we have @ankaris Mr Designer Dude!! Good that\|work=]\|date=December 7, 2011\|accessdate=December 22, 2012}}</ref>
			{{Main\|The Maze Runner (film)}}
			] released a ] of the book titled '']'' on September 19, 2014. ] directed and ] wrote the screenplay.<ref>{{cite web \|last=Zeitchik \|first=Steven \|date=4 January 2011 \|title=Young-adult sensation ''The Maze Runner'' gets ready to run the movie gantlet \|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/24-frames/story/2011-01-04/young-adult-sensation-the-maze-runner-gets-ready-to-run-the-movie-gantlet \|access-date=27 September 2024 \|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> ] played the lead role of Thomas,<ref>{{cite web \|last=Wilkinson \|first=Amy \|date=April 18, 2013 \|title='Maze Runner' Finds Its Thomas \|url=http://hollywoodcrush.mtv.com/2013/04/18/the-maze-runner-dylan-obrien \|url-status=dead \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420013153/http://hollywoodcrush.mtv.com/2013/04/18/the-maze-runner-dylan-obrien/ \|archive-date=20 April 2013 \|access-date=28 June 2013 \|work=Hollywood Crush \|publisher=]}}</ref> ] portrayed Newt,<ref>{{cite web \|last=Patten \|first=Dominic \|date=13 March 2013 \|title=Movie Casting Round-Up: Thomas Brodie-Sangster joins 'Maze Runner'; Scott Glenn added to 'Trigger' \|url=https://deadline.com/2013/03/movie-casting-thomas-brodie-sangster-maze-runner-scott-glenn-trigger-game-of-thrones-453367/ \|access-date=13 March 2013 \|website=Deadline \|publisher=}}</ref> and ] portrayed Teresa.<ref>{{cite web \|last=White \|first=James \|date=8 April 2013 \|title=Kaya Scodelario Joins The Maze Runner \|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/kaya-scodelario-joins-maze-runner/ \|access-date=27 September 2024 \|website=Empire \|publisher=}}</ref> ], ], ], and ] were added to the cast as Minho, Chuck, Gally, and Alby, respectively. ] played the role of the Ava Paige. ] portrayed Frypan, Alexander Flores portrayed Winston, ] played Jeff, Randal Cunningham portrayed Clint, ] portrayed Ben, and ] played Zart.

			] served as a concept artist for the film,<ref>{{Cite web \|title=Artist - Wayne Haag \|url=https://ixgallery.com/artists/waynehaag/ \|access-date=2024-09-27 \|website=IX Gallery}}</ref> and ] as a producer.<ref>{{Cite web \|last=Halligan \|first=Fionnuala \|date=2018-01-17 \|title='Maze Runner: The Death Cure': Review \|url=https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/maze-runner-the-death-cure-review/5125602.article \|access-date=2024-09-27 \|website=Screen Daily \|language=en}}</ref>
	A release date of February 14, 2014 has been announced.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://collider.com/night-at-the-museum-3-release-date-shawn-levy/\|title=Shawn Levy Returns to Direct NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 3 for December 25, 2014 Release; THE MAZE RUNNER Set to Open February 14, 2014\|first=Adam\|last=Chitwood\|publisher=Collider\|date=February 7, 2013\|accessdate=February 8, 2013}}</ref>

	Creature designer ] ~~has~~ ~~created concept~~ ~~designs~~ for the film.<ref>~~http~~://theartofken.com/~~viewblog.php?blogID=~~the-maze-runner-~~news~~-80</ref>		Creature designer Ken Barthelmey designed the Grievers for the film.<ref>{{Cite web \|title=The Maze Runner \|url=https://theartofken.com/gallery/the-maze-runner-21 \|access-date=2024-09-27 \|website=The Art of Ken Barthelmey \|language=en}}</ref>

	Filming ~~is scheduled to begin~~ in May 2013.<ref>{{cite web \|~~url~~=~~https://twitter.com/jamesdashner/status/317443010306654209~~ \|title=Much more casting news should be coming very soon. They start filming in May. Release date of Feb 14th 2014 #dashnerchat \|~~last~~=~~Dashner~~ \|~~first~~=~~James~~ \|date=~~March~~ ~~29,~~ ~~2013~~ \|~~work~~= \|~~publisher~~=] \|~~accessdate~~=~~March~~ ~~30,~~ 2013}}</ref>		Filming started in May of 2013,<ref>{{cite web \|last=Dashner \|first=James \|date=29 March 2013 \|title=Much more casting news should be coming very soon. They start filming in May. Release date of Feb 14th 2014 #dashnerchat \|url=https://twitter.com/jamesdashner/status/317443010306654209 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110041547/https://twitter.com/jamesdashner/status/317443010306654209 \|archive-date=10 January 2014 \|access-date= \|website=] \|publisher=}}</ref> and ended in July of the same year.<ref>{{Cite web \|last=Wilkinson \|first=Amy \|date=9 July 2013 \|title=Gawk At The Gladers In New 'Maze Runner' Image \|url=http://hollywoodcrush.mtv.com/2013/07/09/maze-runner-image/ \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130815024448/http://hollywoodcrush.mtv.com/2013/07/09/maze-runner-image/ \|archive-date=2013-08-15 \|access-date=2024-09-27 \|website=Hollywood Crush \|publisher=MTV}}</ref>

			Following the ] in March 2019, Disney confirmed in April 2019 at their ] presentation that new ''Maze Runner'' films were in development.<ref>{{Cite web \|last=Carter \|first=Justin \|date=April 3, 2019 \|title=Fox Plans More Sequels to Popular Movie Franchises Post-Disney Merger \|url=https://www.cbr.com/fox-plans-more-sequels-to-popular-movie-franchises-post-disney-merger/ \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404134359/https://www.cbr.com/fox-plans-more-sequels-to-popular-movie-franchises-post-disney-merger/ \|archive-date=April 4, 2019 \|access-date=September 27, 2024 \|website=CBR}}</ref>

			In May 2024, it was announced that a ] was in development, with Wes Ball returning as a producer and Jack Paglen hired as writer. The new installment was described as "not a redo of the story nor{{Nbsp}} a direct sequel to the original trilogy" but "a sort of continuation{{Nbsp}} yet also return to the elements that made the first movie connect with its audience."<ref>{{cite web\|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/the-maze-runner-reboot-in-the-works-1235889793/\|title='The Maze Runner' Reboot in the Works with 'Transcendence' Scribe Jack Paglen in Talks to Write (Exclusive)\|website=The Hollywood Reporter\|last=Kit\|first=Borys\|date=May 3, 2024\|access-date=May 3, 2024}}</ref>

	==References==		==References==
	{{~~reflist~~\|~~colwidth=~~30em}}		{{Reflist\|30em}}

	==External links==		==External links==
			{{Portal\|Children and Young Adult Literature\|Novels}}
	* (official)
	*		*
			* {{YouTube \|id= Os6pZvKbxqI \|title= ''The Maze Runner'' book trailer }}
	* (official)

			{{The Maze Runner}}
			{{James Dashner}}
			{{Authority control}}

	{{DEFAULTSORT:Maze Runner}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:Maze Runner}}
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Latest revision as of 19:15, 6 January 2025

2009 novel by James Dashner For other uses, see The Maze Runner (disambiguation).

The Maze Runner
2009 edition cover
Author	James Dashner
Cover artist	Philip Straub
Language	English
Series	The Maze Runner series
Genre	Young adult, science fiction, post-apocalyptic
Published	October 6, 2009
Publisher	Delacorte Press
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardcover and paperback), audiobook, e-book
Pages	375 pp.
ISBN	978-0-385-73794-4 (first edition, hardcover)
OCLC	299381315
LC Class	PZ7.D2587Maz 2009
Preceded by	The Fever Code (in narrative order)
Followed by	The Scorch Trials

The Maze Runner is a 2009 dystopian novel by American author James Dashner. It takes place in a world suffering from a coronal mass ejection and whose surviving civilians fight to avoid an apocalyptic illness called the Flare. It is written from the perspective of Thomas, a 16-year-old boy who wakes up with no memories inside an artificially produced maze. An organization called WICKED controls the world politically, seeks a cure to the Flare, and uses the youngest generation of civilians who are immune to it as test subjects.

The book received critical acclaim from major reviewers and authors. It won the Young Adult Library Services Association Best Fiction for Young Adults award in 2011, is a #1 New York Times Best Seller and was on the list for 148 weeks, and was a Kirkus Reviews Teen Book of the Year. The Maze Runner is a popular pick by educators teaching middle-grade readers in schools.

The novel was published in 2009 by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House with cover art by Philip Straub. The Maze Runner is the first novel in The Maze Runner series, followed by The Scorch Trials (2010) and The Death Cure (2011). A film adaptation, directed by Wes Ball, was released in 2014 by 20th Century Fox and stars Dylan O’Brien as Thomas.

Plot

A boy named Thomas wakes up in a metal elevator that brings him to a place called the Glade. He has no memory of how he got there or who he is aside from his name. He gradually discovers that the Glade is run by two boys: Alby, the leader, and Newt, his second-in-command, who maintain order by enforcing simple rules. The elevator box surfaces from under the ground once every week and brings supplies of food, tools, clothes, medicine, and sometimes weapons. Every month, a new boy with no memory of anything but his first name also appears in the box.

The Glade is enclosed by concrete walls several hundred feet high. The walls have openings in them which slide shut every night. Outside the walls is the Maze, a labyrinth made of high concrete walls covered in ivy that change configuration every night. The Maze houses strange, lethal creatures of metal and flesh known as Grievers. The group of boys, who call themselves Gladers, try to stay alive as well as to solve the Maze by appointing "Runners" to run through it as fast as they can while tracking the movements of the walls and trying to find an exit.

One day, after Thomas' arrival, a girl named Teresa, is delivered through the elevator into the Glade. She is the first girl to arrive at the Glade and is clutching a note that says, "She's the last one. Ever." She says Thomas' name at one point during a week-long coma. Later that day a boy named Ben, who was stung by a Griever and went through the "Changing", tries to kill Thomas. Alby saves Thomas and Ben is banished.

Minho, the Keeper of the Runners, goes into the Maze with Alby to see what they think might be the first dead Griever. Alby is stung by the creature and attacks Minho, who knocks Alby out. Minho carries Alby back to the Glade but by the time they arrive, the doors to the Glade are already closing. Thomas runs into the maze to help, becoming stranded with Minho and Alby. When they hear the sounds of Grievers approaching, Minho runs away, knowing they don't have a chance of survival, while Thomas uses the ivy on the maze walls to pull Alby up. Minho later comes back to help Thomas, and by morning they have killed four of the Grievers by leading them off a cliff.

After returning to the Glade the next morning, Newt calls a Gathering of the Keepers to discuss what to do with Thomas. Some of the Keepers vote to grant him clemency, but others, specifically Gally, vote to lock him up as a punishment. Minho nominates Thomas to become the Keeper of the Runners, but Gally disagrees with this. Gally and Minho threaten each other, and the discussion ends with Gally storming off. Newt, as interim head of the Gathering due to Alby's condition, proposes sending Thomas to the Slammer (their version of prison) for a day, and then having him start training to become a Runner. Without an official vote, the Keepers decide to go with Newt's plan.

Alby asks to see Thomas alone and tries to tell him something he has seen during the Changing that had to do with Thomas. Before he can give Thomas any real information, Alby starts trying to choke himself. With Newt's help, Thomas manages to stop him. Alby then says that someone was controlling his actions.

Teresa wakes from her coma, and tells Thomas telepathically that she triggered the Ending. The food is running low, the sky is permanently gray, the box is not coming up, and at night the Maze doors stay open. Alby decides that he'll go into the Map Room and analyze the maps to see if he can find any patterns. Gally comes back that night and says that the Grievers will come every night now, killing them all off one by one. When the Grievers enter the Homestead, where the Gladers have been hiding, Gally throws himself at them and they leave.

The next morning, they find out that Alby has tried to burn all the maps. Thomas later discovers that Minho and Newt secured the maps in the Weapons Room a couple of hours earlier, saving them. Thomas gets the idea to compare each map to the maps of other sections as opposed to with other days, and, after copying a few maps onto wax paper and layering them by day, they find that the first combination spells FLOATCAT. After copying more maps and layering them, they find that the complete code spelled out by the Maze is: "FLOAT CATCH BLEED DEATH STIFF PUSH".

During the following nights, the Grievers come back and take one Glader per night.

Realizing that they need to get their memories back, Thomas voluntarily gets stung by a Griever and spends a couple of days unconscious as he goes through the Changing. When he wakes up, he knows they have to go down the Griever Hole to escape the Maze and insert the code into a machine they will find. He also remembers part of the world they came from, including about WICKED (World in Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department) and his own participation in the creation of the Maze.

Using this new information, most of the Gladers leave to try and jump down the Griever Hole. Almost half of them die in the fight against the Grievers, but Thomas and Teresa manage to insert the code, with help from Chuck to realize that "PUSH" means to push a button instead of being the last word of the code.

After exploring the facility, the remaining Gladers find themselves in a room with scientists watching them. One of the scientists walks out, accompanied by Gally. Gally throws a knife at Thomas, but Chuck dives in front of him, sacrificing himself for Thomas.

A rescue team comes crashing in seconds later, killing all the scientists and taking the Gladers with them to another facility, where they have dinner and go to sleep.

The epilogue is written in the voice of Chancellor Ava Paige, a feature that recurs in of all the trilogy's novels. She reveals that the group that rescued the Gladers is just another variable in the experiment and that the Gladers were not the only group being evaluated; the next day, the second phase of their trials will begin.

Characters

Thomas: The protagonist of the novel. The only thing he can remember when he comes into the Glade is his name, a common pattern amongst the Gladers. Chuck describes him as about 16 years old, of average height, and brown-haired. He is called "Greenie", a nickname given to new arrivals. He becomes a Runner with Minho after he and Minho are the first to spend the night in the Maze, and saves Alby when he is about to die.
Teresa: One of the main characters. The first girl and last person to enter the Glade. When she enters the Glade she is in a coma. She calls "Tom". She helps Thomas get out of the maze and fight the Grievers in the Griever Hole. She is thin and has black hair, blue eyes, and relatively pale skin.
Alby: The eldest and the leader of the Gladers. He is described as a "dark-skinned boy with short-cropped hair, his face clean-shaven." He tries to keep order within the group and keep them all alive by having all the boys follow rules. He has a close relationship with Newt, his second-in-command. He was in the group of 30 who first arrived in the Glade. Alby commits suicide by walking into a group of Grievers, thinking that he should die there rather than outside the Maze.
Newt: One of the main characters. He is good friends with Thomas and Minho. He used to be a Runner but is no longer able since he was nearly attacked by a Griever. He is kind, friendly, and welcoming to Thomas. He is Alby's closest friend and second-in-command and takes over as leader when Alby is no longer capable. Newt is described as being "tall and muscular," with blond hair that comes down over his shoulders and a square jaw. He has a limp that he says is from running from a Griever, but the real reason is revealed in the third book to be an attempted suicide. Newt is older than Thomas.
Minho: One of the main characters. He is the Keeper of the Runners, and is in charge of navigating and mapping out the Maze. As a Runner, he is in very good shape and is described as "an Asian kid with strong, heavily muscled arms and short black hair." He is sarcastic and a jokester. He tends to react without thinking, which leads him into trouble. He and Thomas quickly become good friends.

Chuck (deceased): A young and chubby boy with curly hair who was the newest Glader until Thomas arrived. He immediately becomes friends with Thomas and acts like a little brother with him. Chuck is a "Slopper", one of the Gladers who handle the distasteful jobs the others do not want. He is around 13 years old. He is killed by Gally after the latter throws a dagger at Thomas and Chuck saves him.
Gally: The main antagonist. Gally is a Glader who lives by the rules Alby put in place. He does not trust Thomas and shows an immense dislike for him. He is the Keeper of the Builders. He runs away from the Glade in a fit of rage after an argument at the Gathering about Thomas. At the end of the book, he throws a dagger at Thomas and ends up killing Chuck when the latter throws himself in front of it.
Ben: A Builder. After undergoing the Changing and attempting to kill Thomas, he is banished to the Maze and dies overnight.
Ava Paige: The chancellor of WICKED and the person responsible for sending teenagers into the Maze. She appears in the epilogue in an e-mail.
Grievers: Biomechanical creatures that hunt and kill the Gladers in the maze. They are described as "large, bulbous creature the size of a cow but with no distinct shape." In the Ending, they are let into the Glade to kill one person every day.

Development

In November 2005, Dashner had an idea for a book "about a bunch of teenagers living inside an unsolvable Maze full of hideous creatures, in the future, in a dark, dystopian world. It would be an experiment, to study their minds. Terrible things would be done to them – awful things; completely hopeless – until the victims turn everything on its head." During his writing process, he envisions the novels as movies. One of the influences for the book was Lord of the Flies. Dashner wrote The Maze Runner from December 2005 to March 2006 and it was published in 2008.

Reception

Kirkus Reviews wrote of The Maze Runner: "Hard to put down, this is clearly just a first installment, and it will leave readers dying to find out what comes next." Jessica Harrison of the Deseret Morning News labeled The Maze Runner as "a thrilling adventurous book for kids ages 13+ that will get readers' hearts pumping and leave them asking for more," though she noted the "fictionalized slang" as a drawback.

The novel won the 2011 Best Fiction for Young Adults Award presented by the Young Adult Library Services Association. It won the Charlotte Award in 2012, an award given to outstanding literature for children as voted on by students in New York State. It also won the Lincoln Award in 2012, an award sponsored by the Illinois School Library Educators for literature encouraging high school readers to read for personal enjoyment. The Maze Runner won the Truman Readers Award in 2012, an award for literature which encourages young readers between the sixth and eighth grades. The book also received the Evergreen Teen Book Award in 2012 and Georgia Peach Book Award in 2009. It was nominated for the Utah Book Award for Young Adults in 2009 and the Pennsylvania Young Readers’ Choice Award in 2011.

Christy Goldsmith of the University of Missouri noted that she used The Maze Runner in her secondary classroom to teach independent reading, how to interact with fiction, and that “reading doesn’t have to be painful.” In the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Sara Abrams of Arizona State University recommended The Maze Runner to middle school students, writing, "readers who seek adventure and are curious about living on their own will find The Maze Runner an engaging read” and comparing it to Lord of the Flies. Sandra Bennet wrote in The School Librarian that the book is "an absorbing and tense novel which mid to older teens will devour."

Film adaptation

Main article: The Maze Runner (film)

20th Century Fox released a film adaptation of the book titled The Maze Runner on September 19, 2014. Wes Ball directed and T. S. Nowlin wrote the screenplay. Dylan O'Brien played the lead role of Thomas, Thomas Brodie-Sangster portrayed Newt, and Kaya Scodelario portrayed Teresa. Ki Hong Lee, Blake Cooper, Will Poulter, and Aml Ameen were added to the cast as Minho, Chuck, Gally, and Alby, respectively. Patricia Clarkson played the role of the Ava Paige. Dexter Darden portrayed Frypan, Alexander Flores portrayed Winston, Jacob Latimore played Jeff, Randal Cunningham portrayed Clint, Chris Sheffield portrayed Ben, and Joe Adler played Zart.

Wayne Haag served as a concept artist for the film, and Ellen Goldsmith-Vein as a producer.

Creature designer Ken Barthelmey designed the Grievers for the film.

Filming started in May of 2013, and ended in July of the same year.

Following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney in March 2019, Disney confirmed in April 2019 at their CinemaCon presentation that new Maze Runner films were in development.

In May 2024, it was announced that a reboot was in development, with Wes Ball returning as a producer and Jack Paglen hired as writer. The new installment was described as "not a redo of the story nor a direct sequel to the original trilogy" but "a sort of continuation yet also return to the elements that made the first movie connect with its audience."

References

^ "The maze runner" (first edition). LC Online Catalog. Library of Congress (lccn.loc.gov). Retrieved 13 November 2016.
Shill, Aaron (25 November 2009). "'Maze Runner' on 'right track'". Deseret Morning News. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
^ "2011 Best Fiction for Young Adults". Young Adult Library Services Association. American Library Association. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
"Children's & Young Adult Series Books - Best Sellers - Books". The New York Times. 23 August 2015. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
Raman, Kaavya (23 November 2015). "James Dashner: A Brilliant Mind". HuffPost. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
Wasley, Alice (17 September 2015). "Talking to Author James Dashner about Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials". Motion Picture Association. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
Dashner, James (16 July 2008). "The Tale of The Maze Runner". The Dashner Dude. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
"The Maze Runner". Kirkus Reviews. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
Harrison, Jessica (3 October 2009). "Maze Runner provides a thrilling adventure". Deseret News. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
^ "The Maze Runner". Penguin Random House Secondary Education. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
"Lincoln Award: Illinois Teen Readers' Choice Award". LibraryThing. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
"Truman Readers Award". LibraryThing. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
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External links

v t e The Maze Runner series by James Dashner
Main series	The Maze Runner The Scorch Trials The Death Cure
Prequel series	The Kill Order The Fever Code
Film series	The Maze Runner soundtrack The Scorch Trials The Death Cure

v t e Works by James Dashner
The Jimmy Fincher Saga	A Door in the Woods (2003) A Gift of Ice (2004) The Tower of Air (2004) War of the Black Curtain (2005)
The 13th Reality series	The Journal of Curious Letters (2008) The Hunt for Dark Infinity (2009) The Blade of Shattered Hope (2010) The Void of Mist and Thunder (2012)
The Maze Runner series	The Maze Runner (2009) The Scorch Trials (2010) The Death Cure (2011) The Kill Order (2012) The Fever Code (2016)
The Infinity Ring series	A Mutiny in Time (2012)
The Mortality Doctrine	The Eye of Minds (2013) The Rule of Thoughts (2014) Gunner Skale (2014) The Game of Lives (2015)

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