BOOK REPORT One: Grade 10/10

Title: The Maze Runner

Author: James Dashner

Publisher: The Chicken House No. of Pages: 371

Summary:
The Maze Runner took place in the future world, where humanity have gone through an
apocalypse brought by solar flares, and was struggling to fight against the disastrous disease -
the Flare. The story started when Thomas was loaded on an elevator where he arrived at the
Glade, which was full of teenagers of his similar age. As he learned more about it, he was told
that the Glade was actually the center and also entrance to a gigantic maze. However, it was
filled with Grievers, which were mechanical creatures that would haunt and kill the Gladers.
The walls inside the Maze would also change constantly.

Thomas’s arrival brought huge changes to the Glade. A day after Thomas arrived, a girl named
Teresa was brought in from the elevator, with a note saying “She's the last one. Ever.”,
meaning that neither children nor supplies will be delivered to the Gladers through the
elevator anymore. To make the situation worse, the doors of the Maze stayed open at night,
which normally shut. Grievers started to enter the Glade and killed children periodically.

After Thomas and another character called Minho managed to survive a night inside the maze,
they went on various adventures and made discoveries. It was found out that there was an exit
at the far boundaries of the Maze, and could be opened with certain passkey which the Maze
was implying through its wall movements. Thomas, Minho, Teresa and several other Gladers
did succeed, but found out eventually that they were experimental subjects of the organization
World In Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department (WICKED). The story ended with the
characters being rescued by a group of people as they continued their journey in The Scorch
Trials.
Reflection:
The Maze Runner was an action-packed novel with exciting scenes and appealing twists. It was
so entertaining to explore the mysterious Maze with the characters side by side. In particular,
the part that Thomas and Minho had to fight the Grievers and ran all over the Maze in order to
survive the night was definitely electrifying. They are as authentic as real shots.

The writer, James Dashner, is surely the person who should be credited for creating the series.
It is always hard to believe that someone has the persistence, determination and creativity to
brainstorm such special ideas for a novel. Not only did he think about it, but he wrote it down
and made such exceptional work for us readers. As a post-apocalyptic science fiction, it is never
easy to be special and unique yet The Maze Runner clearly stands out with such marvelous
work from James.

The content of the book clearly demonstrated the cruel side of human beings. In order to find
the cure of the Flare, WICKED would do anything they could, even if it meant to sacrifice the
lives of so many young children. In fact, the children have done nothing wrong except being
born in such time of crisis. However, they were taken into giant concrete mazes, had their
memories all wiped out, and had to face trials of life and death. Their freedom was taken away
and they were treated as experiment subjects instead. The way WICKED did in the book was
definitely inhumane.

However, there are also opinions that are completely opposite to the one above. Some said
that WICKED was actually doing good because only when they find the cure, humanity could
survive the apocalyptic event. Thus, letting hundreds and thousands of children suffer or even
die was worth to save tens of millions of other people. In spite of such fact, I believe the people
who are trying to find the cure were selfish and barbarous as they have often neglected the
children’s personal feeling just to finish their task and mission.
Book report 2: Score 9/10
Book Name:  The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Summary:
The Book Thief tells the story of Liesel, a little girl who is taken to a
new home because her mother can't afford to take care of her. The
story is told by Death, who becomes a character you come to respect
and even feel sorry for by the end. The narration puts an odd
perspective on the story. Much of what Death says is very
philosophical, and even beautiful.

Reflection:
           This book has impacted me in several ways. This book, oddly
enough, is written in the first person view of Death. If Death were a
physical being like human, the book is written as though Death is
telling the story of Liesel Hubermann and her childhood in war-ridden
Germany. This is such a wonderfully different way of telling a story,
the point of view itself is enough to make any reader want more.
             I found this book a bit of an eye opener. It is one of the first
books about the war that I have read that is from somebody living in
Germany's point of view. It makes you realise that so many people in
Germany became victims of the war, that they weren't all evil as they
are often portrayed. The sadness surrounding Liesel's story creeps
up on you, until suddenly you realise that it is like this for so many,
and how serious it was.                        
                   To conclude, I do want to share one of my favorite parts
of this book with you. I love the way that the book ends. It is a short
sentence by Death that pretty much sums up everything. "I am
haunted by humans." This sentence continues to give me chills, but I
feel that it is a very powerful sentence. I fell in love with the
characters in this book and was

To conclude, I do want to share one of my favorite parts of this book

with you. I love the way that the book ends. It is a short sentence by
Death that pretty much sums up everything. "I am haunted by
humans." This sentence continues to give me chills, but I feel that it is
a very powerful sentence. I fell in love with the characters in this book
and was continuously surprised by Death's reactions and point of
view throughout the story. When I first learned that the narrator was
going to be Death, I expected a dreary and heartbreaking book.
However, the ending is dramatic as it was not going to be in the case.
This makes me feel happily surprised. If you get the chance to read
this book, I definitely recommend it.