Mazemaker

by Catherine Dexter

Playing in a maze, twelve-year-old Winnie is hurled back in time and marooned on a nineteenth-century estate until she can solve the maze and return to the present.

Genres: Time Travel, Childrens

202 pages, Library Binding

First published May 1, 1989

Reviews

[Douglas Larson · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I started this book I did so partly because it was a time-travel book and partly because I found the title intriguing. However, I didn't expect it to be quite as wonderful as it turned out. What I thought was a fairly simple story of two kids, Winnie and Harry turns into quite a remarkable story of friendships and the secrets and intrigue that adults create in their lives and how the kids strive to do the right thing in spite of adults who are often in the way. It added so much to what could have been an unimaginative time-travel story. This book, like Dexter's "Alien Game" is thrilling but also a down to earth human story as well. Some reviewers have called the ending too easy but I found it hopeful and rewarding and not at all what I was expecting. I certainly wouldn't call it too easy.
I would like to know more about Catherine Dexter and would love it if she wrote more but I find little information about her on the internet. A lack of new works, often means the author has retired from writing or passed away, though some authors are extemely private by choice. I know she has written other books (about 5 or 6) but beyond that I know nothing about her. Anyone know anything about Catherine Dexter?

Update - I have since run across information that leads me to believe that Catherine Dexter, is actually a Nom de Plume, i.e. a Pen name. If true, it might explain why I find little information about Dexter on the internet. The information I saw wasn't conclusive so I am not sure of my theory. I believe her real name is Catherine Dexter Martin.

[Crista · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this as a fifth grader TWICE! One of you lovely researchers tracked the title down after my very abbreviated description based on my 5th grade memory, and I was able to purchase a copy for my own collection. Every bit as good on the reread! I know my fifth grade vocabulary wasn’t on par with Dexter’s, but I understood enough to fall in love with the story of the maze’s mystery and the secrets of both worlds. Already passed it on to a current fifth-grader to read!

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty workmanlike time travel for 'tweens. It's a thing... timeslips, ghost stories, etc., where a modern child learns some history by interacting with a child from the past. This one just didn't have any memorable or special bits imo. 2.5 stars rounded up because I might have liked it better if it had been one of the first I'd read.

And I did like one line.
"Her stomach felt terrible, but fortunately it was at quite a distance from her brain, and if she just lay still, it might not notice that she was awake."

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good time travel for children. Little girl goes back 100 years as she follows a maze painted in the schoolyard.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this as a kid.