Student Review: THE MAZE RUNNER | James Dashner

Many thanks to Reilly, a 5th grade student in Texas, who submitted this review. We appreciate his input (and, by the way, are quite impressed with his writing ability). If you or someone you know would like to submit a guest review, please email us at info@teachyalit.com.

Title: The Maze Runner

Author: James Dashner

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Date of Publication: 2009

Pages: 374

What Grade Are You In?: 5th, age 10

How did you learn about this book?  

My mom found it online and she said that a whole bunch of people liked it. Then I read the description and the part about The Maze sounded cool and the part about the main character waking up in the lift made me curious, so I checked it out from the library and read it in two days. 

Had you already read any books by this author before you started this one? If so, which one(s)? If not, what made you think this would be a good choice for you?

No, I haven't read any books by this author, but it sounded like a good book and it's description reminded me of the Maximum Ride books, which I really liked. 

What were the two or three things you liked most about this book?

A few things I liked were the Maze, a giant labyrinth surrounding the home of the characters, and the Runners, the people who try to solve The Maze, and the part where Teresa figured out she was telepathic.  I also liked it when the walls moved to close The Maze at night. 

What do you wish had been different about this book?

There's not really anything I would change about this book. People should know that some parts of the book are a little bit scary, and once the characters start to figure out things, the book is very tense.  

Overall, on a scale of 1-5, what score would you give this book?

I would totally give it a 5! It was awesome!

Who do you think would like this book? (Even if you didn't like it, might someone else?)

I think that anyone who likes the Maximum Ride books would totally love this book. This book is probably best for kids at least ten and higher, not younger than ten. For class reading, it might be better for older kids because of some violent and tense situations, and maybe for some mild language. It would be interesting to see other people's reactions to the book, and to compare what other people notice and how they react to different parts. 

Is there anything else you would like to say about this book?

The only other thing I would like to say is that Chapter 59 is really sad. 

Review: WHEN YOU REACH ME | Rebecca Stead

TITLE: When You Reach Me
AUTHOR: Rebecca Stead
PUBLISHER: Wally Lamb Books
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 2009
PAGES: 208
GRADE LEVEL(S): 5-7
RELEVANT CURRICULA: English
CLASSROOM USES: Required reading, Summer/Independent reading, Literature Circles
BRIDGE TEXTS: A Wrinkle In Time


The first time I wrote anything--in fact, the only time I wrote anything--about When You Reach Me, I could hardly think of words to do the book justice. I quoted from commentary from Nancy Pearl on NPR (which was how I first learned about the book), and then wrote:

When You Reach Me is a wonderful descendant of Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time; it never once even comes close to imitation, or cheap knock-offery.  No, it's the classiest of descendants--it's an evolution.

One of the most beautiful aspects of fantasy is how completely it takes the reader from her/his own world into that of the novel. What better way for students to learn first-hand of the magic of literature than by being transported to the planet Uriel? Or to Narnia? Or Middle-earth? Or Oz?


But Stead's novel takes place in New York City. (No doubt, NYC can be magical and unreal, but it's no outer space...) Miranda, Stead's protagonist, is a relatively normal girl, living in a relatively normal world, with the everyday drama that inhabits the world of every 11 year-old. 


The fantastical elements of When You Reach Me are subtler than magic or space travel. Stead's fantasy world is more mysterious than magical, as Miranda receives unexplained notes about events yet-to-happen in her life. Miranda is understandably skeptical; this could as easily be a prank as it is magic, and neither Miranda nor the reader has to take a huge leap of faith to feel that life is carrying on more or less as usual.


This fantasy-based-in-realism approach is sheer brilliance. By staying firmly rooted in real-world places and problems, Stead's novel will appeal to students who may already possess a bit of world-weary reluctance to get fully sucked into a novel. Any reader unwilling to blast into outer space will slowly but surely get sucked in by the bully on the block or the struggles of growing up with a single parent. But magic will just seep in, slowly but surely--and before long, When You Reach Me will make readers out of kids today in the same way that A Wrinkle In Time made readers of them in 1962.