Not really my thing but I'm trying to read more "boy" books so I can have good ones to recommend. My dad commented that the last book I recommend to him was ok but "girly" with too many descriptions of clothes and feelings. I liked The Maze though I've never read Will Hobbs before so I was worried at first that it might have graphic violence or language in some tense spots but there was nothing offensive. I found myself very interested in the condors and visiting the real website to see how they are doing. I also liked that the mc runs into some good adults that help him. It reminded me of Gary Paulson. ( )

This book is an intriguing, heart-stopping, adventure, mystery story. I read this book because my mom pointed it out for me.

“Since my grandmother died,” stated Rick Walker, the main character of Will Hobbs’s fictional novel, The Maze, “four years ago, I’ve been like a rat in a maze… I was only trying to survive, and I kept running into dead ends.” A modern day thriller, infused with the Ancient Greek myth of Icarus, The Maze, tells the fascinating tale of a fourteen year-old boy trying to find his place in life. Rick Walker, having just escaped from a youth detention center, finds himself out in Canyonlands National Park in Utah, stuck with Lon Peregrino, a bird biologist whose job is to release California Condors (a formerly endangered species, bred back to life by scientists) back out into the wild. Rick, not having anything better to do with his life at the time, decides to stay at Lon’s camp and help him out. However, one day, while Lon is off dealing with the condors, Rick is alone at the camp when two men drive up to the camp. Rick immediately hides from them, allowing him to overhear their conversation and in turn, realize that Lon’s condors are in grave danger.
Will Rick be able to find his way out of the maze that is his life? Will Hobbs answers this question in magnificent fashion, holding the reader’s attention held the entire way through this thrilling novel. Beyond creating beautiful imagery in the reader’s mind, Hobbs allows the reader to not only read about Rick Walker, but to truly experience what he is going through. As far as the themes of the book go, there are quite a few, and they are quite powerful. First of all, the book shows the progress over time as Rick slowly begins to discover who he is, and what his life means to him. Also, it illustrates the progression of the growth of Rick’s trust in Lon, steadily growing from near nothing to becoming the best of friends. Overall, I really enjoyed the book; I found it to be not only an interesting page-turner, but also quite powerful in its messages. It teaches the reader that one, no matter his/her current situation in life, can always change it for the better. -M.K.

this was a slow book, but it gets better. the first five pages are fast, then the rest on is slow. its about a boy that is in a juvenile delinquent center for throwing rocks at a sign. he runs away, and finds himself living with a total stranger.he soon finds that he has a love for birds called condors. then two people threaten the existence of the condors,the boy,and the stranger. ( )