Glader's Gazette
By James Dashner, published by Delacorte Press 2009, 375 pgs
Collin Wentworth
Character description
*Thomas- The main character, protagonist. Became a runner and figured out how to escape the maze.
*Minho- Keeper of all runners, trained Thomas to be a runner.
*Newt- 2nd in command of the Gladers, elected Thomas as a runner.
* Chuck- Thomas's best friend, showed him around when he arrived.
*Teresa- Telepathically communicates with Thomas, the first girl to enter the maze.
summary
Thomas woke up, he's laying in a dark box with no memory, the box seems to be moving really fast for a long time. All of a sudden, he comes to a complete stop! After a minute or two someone opened the box and helped him out. There were lots of people, they called the place, the Glade. They were all boys for some reason, which confused Thomas. He had so many questions, why couldn't he remember anything? Where was he? He met a boy named Chuck, who showed him around the Glade. They became best friends and everything seemed better for a while, until a girl arrived in the same box that Thomas arrived in. Everyone was making a fuss and saying that she was the first girl to ever enter the Glade. When the box halted, they saw she was unconscious, one of the leaders, Newt, took her from the box and instructed some of the others to take her to a hospital. Thomas had a strange familiar feeling when he saw the girl. Meanwhile, Newt showed Thomas a window leading outside the Glade. He said it was the maze that they've been trying to solve for years. Newt said that there were robot-spider like creatures called Grievers, and told Thomas to look out the window. He saw a sickening creature that did resemble a robot like arachnid, and it made him stumble back. Just then, someone came out of the maze, Thomas ran over to meet him. He said his name was Minho, keeper of the runners, a group of people who go out into the maze to try and solve it. All of a sudden they heard someone cry out from the maze, they found a dead Griever. Alby, the Glade's leader, came over to see what all the yelling was about. Minho informed Alby of the dead griever, and the two of them ran into the maze. Thomas watched as they disappeared into the maze. Thomas went to meet Chuck, he had to find out more about the maze runners, he felt compelled to be part of their group. Thomas decided to go back to the entrance of the maze. As he approached, the doors began to close, Thomas ran into the maze and the doors finished closing behind him. Thomas saw Minho carrying Alby who seemed to be unconscious. Minho stated Alby was stung by a Griever and he was too late getting him back to the doors. Just then, they heard the unmistakable sound of metal clanging against stone. It was a Griever, Minho started toward the sound leaving Thomas and Alby behind. Thomas tied Alby to the wall with vines to hold him up, and ran after Minho. They end up surviving the night, evading Grievers, they were the only ones to have ever stayed out after the doors closed and make it back alive. Thomas ran to Alby and got him down. They got him to the hospital. The keepers, or leaders, had a gathering and elected Thomas as a runner. Before he could accept his new role, he had to go to the slammer, or jail, for a day for breaking the #1 rule. Rule #1, no going into the maze if you are not a runner! After the slammer and training as a runner, he heard a voice in his head that startled him. It was the girl, from the box! She said her name was Teresa, and she triggered the ending. What did that mean? Thomas didn't know what was happening! How could he hear this girls voice in his head? He ran out into the maze, when he came back he fell straight to sleep. A few days later, Teresa woke up from her coma. Teresa continued to communicate telepathically with Thomas, trying to persuade him to come to the hospital. Thomas was frightened and wouldn't go to her. Teresa escaped from the hospital and sought out Thomas . When she found Thomas, in the forest of the Glade, she set him at ease and told him about her visions. She saw memories of life before the Glade, while unconscious. She knew there was a company behind everything that was happening. She also knew she was the last that would be sent to the Glade, triggering an end. Thomas told Teresa he felt like he knew her from before the Glade, Teresa felt the same way. Alby came running up to Thomas and Teresa and frantically told them, the sky was missing and the doors didn't close. He accused Teresa of being the cause, and sent her to the slammer. Thomas tried to stop them from taking Teresa but he was unsuccessful. That night, Thomas could hear all the Grievers roaming the Glade and climbing the house he and the other Gladers were hiding in. The Grievers would take one of the Gladers each night, out into the maze. No one knew where they were taking them. Thomas needed memories of what had happened before he entered the Glade, and he knew that there was only one way to do it. He had to get stung by a griever, which would cause him to become unconscious. While in his coma he could remember before the Glades just like Teresa. He had to get the serum that would wake up the runners after they had been stung. He knew it was at the hospital. He left that night and found three Grievers trying to take a young boy out into the maze, he interfered until they stung him! The Gladers that rescued Thomas took him to the hospital where he spent three days unconcious. While in his coma he remembered before he entered the Glade, he was part of the team that built the maze and sent the others there. Teresa was part of the same team. After he woke up, he reflected on his memories while unconscious, he knew a way out! There was a secret passage that held a computer with a special code that could get them out of the maze, and shut the Grievers down for good! Thomas went to Newt and Alby and talked them into letting Teresa out of the slammer. He told Teresa about his visions. Thomas called a gathering to discuss his visions and his plan with the keepers. They needed to jump off a cliff into an invisible passageway, called the Griever Hole, because it's where the Grievers go during the day. They got all the runners maps and formed them together, they discovered the secret code to the computer was hidden in the maps. After Thomas convinced the keepers of his plan, they spoke to the rest of the people and started out into the maze. When they arrived into the maze they were greeted by a large amount of Grievers! The Grievers came from every direction. The Gladers hesitate, and then attack. The sound of saw blades spinning and wooden weapons against metal filled the air. Thomas ran and Teresa and Chuck followed. They jumped into the Griever Hole and came to a dark place with a computer. Teresa started typing the code, "float catch bleed death" just then, a Griever came in. Thomas attacked and disabled the Griever. Teresa finished typing but couldn't submit it, Chuck helped her and found a button to submit the code, and it shut down all the Grievers. Minho, Newt, and some of the others arrived. As the people arrived, they noticed there was a window. Sitting behind the window were the people who sent them to the maze. Minho began yelling out in anger, at the people behind the window. A woman approached them, with Gally, one of the Gladers who had been taken by the Grievers. Gally seemed sad, and said that they were controlling him, then threw a knife at Thomas. Chuck jumped in front of Thomas, and the knife hit him right in the chest. He was laying on the ground bleeding, he died. Thomas jumped on Gally, punching him in the face! Minho pulled Thomas away, leaving Gally unconscious. All of a sudden men and women with guns entered the room with the Gladers and began firing through the glass at the creators! Everyone was dead. The team then took all of the Gladers to a bus. The people with the guns were a team that had been hunting that company for a long time.
conflict
Thomas wakes up in a place he is not familiar with, no memory of before, and he is faced with many challenges while trying to escape a maze.
quote
"I just triggered the ending." This quote was said by Teresa. It signified the beginning of Thomas's search to find more answers about what happened before he was sent to the Glade.
review
I think the book was exciting. There was a lot of action and adventure. The maze was very complex, which made it interesting. There were unexpected twists, like how Thomas was actually one of the creators, before they sent him to the Glade.