msjamgochian'sinfinitebooklist

I finally found a dystopian fantasy that is almost as good as The Hunger Games. Thomas wakes up in an elevator with a severe case of amnesia. He doesn't know who he is, where he came from, or how he ended up in The Glade - a verdant space enclosed by immense concrete walls that close every night and open in the morning revealing an endless ever-changing maze. The Gladers aren't surprised by Thomas's arrival; every two weeks supplies and a new Glader are sent from an unknown provider via an elevator. Strangely enough, two weeks after Thomas arrives, a girl is sent for the first time (all the Gladers are boys) carrying the cryptic message: She's the last one. Ever. Thomas decides to join the Mazerunners, a group of boys who map the maze by day and analyze the results by night, trying to find a way out. Their progress is impeded by Grievers, a nasty combination of slug and sword that come out at night. A fast-paced book full of plot twists with an ending that leaves you wa...

In this dystopian fantasy, the people of the burrows are little more than slaves to Company. When his father is taken by the Whips and sent to work in Deep Salt, Hari vows to rescue him. He meets Pearl, the daughter of a Company official, who is fleeing an unwanted marriage, and Tealeaf, Pearl's teacher and companion. They are traveling to Tealeaf's village so that Pearl can develop her gift of mindspeaking. When Tealeaf discovers that Hari is able to speak with animals, she invites him to join them. Hari and Pearl soon discover that the substance being mined drains the workers and leaves them empty husks-and that Company is attempting to form it into a weapon to take over the world. Salt succeeds in being not only plot driven and fast paced, but also character oriented. Readers will appreciate the growing friendship between dark-skinned, aggressive Hari and lily-white, pampered Pearl as they discover that they are not as dissimilar as they believed. Gee presents a well-realize...