The Maze

by Will Hobbs

Just fourteen, Rick Walder is alone, on the run, and desperate. Stowing away in the back of a truck, he suddenly finds himself at a dead end, out in the middle of nowhere. The Maze. In this surreal landscape of stark redrock spires and deep sandstone canyons, Rick stumbles into the remote camp of Lon Perigrino, a bird biologist who is realeasing fledgling California condors back into the wild. Intriqued by the endangered condors and the strange bearded man dedicated to saving them, Rick decides to stay on. When two men with a vicious dog drive up in a battered old Humvee, Rick discovers that Lon and his birds are in grave danger. Will he be able to save them? In a heart-stopping adventure infused with the spirit of the Icarus myth and a boy's dreams of flight, Will Hobbs brings readers a unique tale of identity, personal growth, and friendship.

Blue Spruce Award Masterlist (YA Cat.)
AZ Young Reader Award Masterlist (Teen Bks cat.)
Sunshine State Young Reader's Award Masterlist (Gr. 6-8)
Black-Eyed Susan Award Masterlist
Minnesota's Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award Masterlist
South Carolina Book Award Nomination Masterlist (Grds 6-9)
Lone Star Reading List
Utah Book Award (Gr. 7-12)
Washington State Evergreen YA Book Award Masterlist
Young Hoosier Book Award Masterlist (Gr. 6-8)
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award Nominee Masterlist

Genres: Adventure, Young Adult, Fiction, Survival, Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade, Juvenile

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

WILL HOBBS is the author of seventeen novels for upper elementary, middle school and young adult readers, as well as two picture book stories. Seven of his novels, Bearstone, Downriver, The Big Wander, Beardance, Far North, The Maze, and Jason's Gold, were named Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association. ALA also named Far North and Downriver to their list of the 100 Best Young Adult Books of the Twentieth Centrury. Ghost Canoe received the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1998 for Best Young Adult Mystery.

In outdoor stories that appeal to both boys and girls, Hobbs has readers discovering wild places, sharing adventures with people from varied backgrounds, and exploring how to make important choices in their own lives. A graduate of Stanford University and former reading and language arts teacher, Will has been a full-time writer since 1990. He lives with his wife, Jean, in Durango, Colorado.

Will's books have won many other awards, including the California Young Reader Medal, the Western Writers of America Spur Award, the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award, the Colorado Book Award, and nominations to state award lists in over thirty states.

Reviews

[Jonathan Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Troubled teen bonds with an unlikely older scientist with a backdrop of condors and paragliding. Cool to see the focus on condors, a usually vilified bird, and learned a bunch about paragliding. Fun read!

[Lorraine Montgomery · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Who is Rick Walker?" the judge intoned. . .

Rick knew he wasn't dangerous to anybody, if that was what the judge was getting at. Throwing rocks at a stop sign wouldn't suggest that he was, would it?  He'd never hurt anybody.

"For violating the express conditions of your probation, six months in Blue Canyon Youth Detention Center," the judge pronounced. . .

Rick went instantly numb.  Paralyzed.  Struck by lightning.  He'd heard about Blue Canyon, down near Las Vegas.  There were even murderers in there.

Fourteen-year-old Rick Walker has had a tough time.  He was raised by his grandmother, and by foster parents after her death, then finally, wound up in a group home.  These people didn't even care enough to come with him to court.  Now, a detention center.  Because he has potential, the judge says, and Blue Canyon has an accredited education program.  It doesn't take Rick too long to learn how to get by.  He sticks to himself, works out with the weights early and clears out before someone else wants them, reads in the library, stays out of the TV room, and works hard in the garden.  He's become strong, loves to read, and really enjoys the garden.  By July, because of the heat, he finds he's one of the few who is still out there.  When the maintenance men destroy the garden so it doesn't become an extra job for them, he retaliates by telling his social worker how they sell off the new air conditioners and replace them with older, reconditioned ones that don't work well, and that they pay the guards to look the other way.  His social worker gets fired and then Rick finds out "his name is on the cigarettes".  In other words, kids have been bribed with cigarettes to beat him to within an inch of his life.  Now, there's safety in numbers.  He's probably alright until morning.  He has no choice.  He has to run.

Thus begins the adventure. Rick has enjoyed reading about Greek mythology in the prison library; especially the story about Icarus and the maze.  "His own life was a puzzle riddled with dead ends. His own life was a maze."  And now, by coincidence, Rick finds himself in the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park, Utah.  Here Rick learns many things.   He learns how to hang glide; he learns about the endangered California condor. He learns about " potters" who steal artifacts and sell them for profit, and will stop at nothing to keep from being discovered.  But most importantly, he learns that sometimes, with a little help, sometimes, someone can get a 2nd chance.

The Maze has nothing in common with  The Maze Runner , book or movie, but instead Hobbs has written a thoroughly realistic and believable story with interesting characters, a totally real setting, and fascinating information about raising condors and hang gliding. Rick starts off with a defensive and hesitant relationship with the naturalist, who it seems has some secrets of his own.  But gradually, he develops a fierce loyalty.  From his solo flights, he is able to identify the various surrounding areas in the canyons of the maze, so when Will and the things and people he has learned to care about are threatened, he is ready to risk all.  Will it be enough?

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a young boy, Rick bounced around from foster house to foster house. Could you imagine being a young boy with no parents? He never really knew where he belonged so he acted out about his situation. His behavior landed him a spot at the Blue Canyon Youth Detention Center. His 6 month sentence there was cut short one day when Rick made a run for his freedom. Eventually, he found himself living with a biologist, Lon Peregrino, in the canyons of Arizona. Rick learned that sometimes in life people can be misjudged. He learned so because he thought of Lon as someone completely different from him at first. Later, Rick found out he and Lon had surprisingly a lot in common. Living with Lon didn't come easy. Two outlaws living in the same area didn't like the presence of Rick and Lon. I wanted to read this book because I wanted an adventure story full of heart. I can somewhat relate to this book because my brother has been sent to a youth detention center before. What Rick goes through in the detention center is accurate according to my brother's accounts. I can relate to the main character Rick because he and I both try to see the good in every situation. The book lived up to its promise and went beyond. The book was full of emotion and left me feeling satisfied. You should read this story if you want an adventure book rich in lessons and full of emotion. You should not read this book if you are sensitive to the hardships of foster children. Anyone who wants a book involving man vs self would enjoy this book. This book isn't for people who don't like emotion in a story.

[Sierra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reader’s Notes:

– this is told from Rick’s point of view

– Rick is a 14 year old orphan

– Rick is living in a detention center in the beginning of the book; there are mentions of troubled kids and issues at the detention center as well as difficult family situations

– characters study carrion birds and their life habits (including feeding/eating)

Review:

I was given this book by my friend to read for Jolabokaflod ( <- this is the Icelandic tradition of exchanging books and chocolate on Christmas Eve to read that night) and though it was outside of my typical reads this past year I really enjoyed it! It was fun to learn more about condors through Rick’s eyes and a few other things that he learns while with Lon. I liked Rick & Lon’s conversations and how it led Rick onto a better path and thought life than he started with at the beginning of the book. I also liked the bit of mystery/suspense in the story between the ‘bad guy’ characters that stuck around and the will they, won’t they when it came to the many things that condors were still learning to do on their own.

Summary:

Rick became a ward of the state when his mother abandoned him and his grandmother passed away. After another issue caused by Rick, he is sentenced to juvenile detention and does all he can to stay under the radar until he can get out. But all his efforts go awry with one decision. Now Rick is on the run for his life and from the law.

All his running brings Rick to the remote camp of a wildlife biologist who is releasing fledgling condors to the area. If he wasn’t in the middle of nowhere, Rick would keep on running. But between the distance from civilization and the interesting component of Lon and his birds, Rick finds himself sticking around the camp and learning under the biologist.

But things weren’t meant to stay peaceful for long.

Two men, their dog, and their Humvee keep coming back out to the area and staying much longer than getting water as they claim. And when Rick overhears the men discussing their disgust for what Lon in trying to do with the condors, he realizes that Lon and his birds may be in danger…

[Brandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but not my favorite. I taught this with a group of students and we just finished. They enjoyed the overall story and the condors were an added surprising bonus - but slogging through all of the mechanical jargon of hang gliding and the unfamiliar topographical vocabulary was a chore for them. I think a few illustrations would have made this more understandable and relatable to readers unfamiliar with the area or the activity. Overall, 3 stars for me. My students would probably say 3.5-4 because of the bad guy sub-plot.

[James Biser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great story of Rick who is a 14-year-old orphan who needs to get himself out of trouble with the law. Luck brings him into the life of natural scientist named Lon Perigrino who is studying California Condors and helping a population of the birds to be established in the Maze in Southern Utah. The Maze is a piece of public land. Rick and Lon work together in the Maze to help the birds and they are bothered by a group of criminals that are also in that part of the country. Their lives are in danger.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because I thought it was the maze runner. It’s not.

[Georgia Ivens · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was terrible!! It started out with a little hope in the very beginning (even though the boy went to a military camp thing for stealing a cd.....?), and it also reminded me of holes in the beginning which I like. When he escaped he came across this guy in the middle of the desert with wild, man-eating birds and it didn't really go anywhere for then on. There was absolutely no plot in this book and the event were random, out of place and just plain boring. I had to stop reding it almost at the end because I just couldn't bare to finish it. It was by far the worst book I've ever read. Thank you for dedicating your time to hear me rant.

[Mandy]

I am not sure I can properly rate this, because this books and I have major history. The title of this book has haunted me for yearssssssssss. What started out as reminiscing about middle school and reading those horrible books joke but turned into a long lasting and very thought provoking argument on what this book was called. It only took us a few years, but this is the day that will forever be known that the biggest mystery of my middle school years has been solved. Thank gosh for small miracles.

Also, I do remember not liking this book as a child. Was not a fan, but I cannot remember why. Maybe because there was actually no maze involved despite the title?

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended for gr. 6-12. This is my all-time favorite Will Hobbs book. I love his descriptions of the Maze (in Canyonlands National Park), the condors and hang-gliding. It makes me want to fly myself! The story deals with Rick, a troubled 14-year-old on the run, who ends up in the camp of Lon Peregrino, a condor scientist in the Maze. The two loners find themselves with much in common, working their way from suspicion to acceptance to trust, while dealing with bad guys and nature. A great read, boys will like it.

[Diego · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was a horrible book...

These are the reasons it was bad

#1. No maze...
#2. Only 1 main character...(not like The Blood of Olympus where there is 10 main characters)
#3. No action at all...
#4. So hard to get the plot of the story
#5. In the book it made him sound like a 7 year old kid when on the book cover he is like 13 years old




-Drpy Guy

[Grant G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some may wonder how they can escape from the “chains” in life holding them back. Well, the book The Maze by Will Hobbs perfectly demonstrates that situation. The Maze is a meaningful book about being “a rat in a maze” trapped down a bad path in life and figuring out what you want to do with your life.
This book is about a fourteen-year-old foster child “Rick Walker” who lives in Nevada. Rick gets sentenced to a juvenile detention facility in Las Vegas where he learns a lot of school-related things. One day in the jail library, he picks up a book called “Escape from the Maze” where greek character Daedalus made wings to escape with his son from the puzzle they were trapped in and once it was used, his son flew to the skies. This tale foreshadows the entire book, as similar tales were in his dreams and childhood. After the escape at the time of a prisoner-beating for Rick, using hooks and a jacket to get out of the barbed wires, Rick goes on an adventure where he meets up with a bird biologist whom he becomes friends with. The friends face many challenges with other people trying to ruin the project. Eventually, he finally realizes the meaning of his life.
This book would appeal to many people who love high energy yet settling novels with plenty of characters with rivalries and troubles. To really describe what is done well, one would see that an amazing key aspect of the book that is done well is the storyline because not only the order of events and how they impact the characters is set really well in the book, all events are completely realistic and are able to give you a vibe that makes you feel like you're experiencing it in real time. Not only that, but the book does a really good job of incorporating all of the characters, either it's bringing in forgotten characters and making them have a huge role later on in the lore of the book, to keeping you on edge waiting for a character to come back to decide something, it's definitely well thought out. Even though all that is well structured, there is one slightly bad thing I'd like to say about the book overall. As soon as one reaches around page 90, the entire pacing of the book goes from a high action prison escape to a lore-building slow paced story. This quick switch in so much time does not fit the beginning of the story, leaving more to wish for. On top of that, the pacing only gets fixed around thirty five entire pages later. Another weakness could be that even though the author does an excellent job at showing details about all the characters, there is some feeling left out as the interpretation of the book is only from the character Rick’s teenager point of view. Making it so they give more backstory about other characters which at least have some sort of important value in the book would definitely elevate it to a higher level.
Overall, the book is pretty well made and overall an enjoyable experience, and I would most likely recommend it to other book readers. And even after you read the book, maybe, you’ll really realize the meaning of being freed of a maze in life.

[Neil L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you want to soar through the skies of the great canyons with a hang glider that's not even yours? Well you can get the experience and the feeling by reading the book, The Maze written by Will Hobbs. The Maze is a story about a boy named Rick who is an orphan and has been moving around foster homes his whole life. He ends up in juvenile detention for throwing rocks at a stop sign. He escaped by climbing a big barbed wire fence and getting a massive cut on his cheek. He found this camp of Lon Peregrino who studies condors. Lon lets him stay at his camp while he recovers. But to stay he had to learn and put in some work with the flying machines, condors.










Spoilers Ahead!





Two men and a vicious pit bull are found pot hunting in the canyons. Rick finds a secret weapon base and is spotted by the two men and they release the pit bull on him. When they find him he tucks his binoculars so they don't see them. The men let him off the hook and he goes back to the camp. Lon finds out about this and goes to try and save a condor that could be in potential danger. He ends up getting shot and pinned in a spot where he can get off on the side of a cliff. Rick has to fly the farthest he ever has to save his friend on his hang glider. He ends up taking a thermal which is a path of wind to gang altitude. He feels as if he's flying and it's been his dream his whole life. Overall I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars because everything ties together and makes a lot of sense. But the story doesn't seem very possible. It's very well written and the characters are perfect.

[Rachel Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only part of the book The Maze that I really enjoyed was the last third or so. At that point comes some intrigue, political and plotwise, and it sustained me for the end of the book and made up for the drudgery that was the first big chunk. A disappointment, really, since I've read a couple of Will Hobbs' other books and enjoyed them much more, but this one just didn't do it for me. The Maze features Rick Walker, a delinquent (as all of Hobbs' characters seem to be) who runs away into the wilderness and befriends a bird researcher who teaches him many things but also gets him caught up into a potentially deadly anti-government scheme. It was indeed this latter part, the conflict between Lon Peregrino and his anti-government enemies, that made the book worth reading at all, but I certainly lost interest many times in the pages leading up to that. Still a quick, entertaining read, but not as good in my opinion as Downriver or River Thunder.

[Lonna Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I respect Will Hobbs because, like Gary Paulsen, he has experienced every wilderness trail and white water he's written about, and this authenticity paired with the rugged majesty of the Southwest is inspirational. Made to order for reluctant readers or males with a chip on their shoulder, the story of Rick Walder, a 14-year old on the run from escaping a detention center in Utah will not disappoint. He stumbles onto a truck that drops him off in the Maze where he meets a wildlife biologist releasing condors into the canyons. A friendship develops, and a respect for the majestic birds. Two seedy men and their snarling dog have secrets hidden in the Maze, and try to get rid of Rick, the scientist, and the endangered birds. The resulting adventure is thrilling, involving hang-gliding, shots fired, and a horrendous storm flooding the canyon. A page-turner!

[Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 14 year old boy, Rick, has a tough start to his life with no parents and bouncing around to different foster homes. Eventually he landed himself a six month sentence in a youth detention center. With nobody to turn to he decides to run away and eventually finds himself living with a bird biologist Lon.

I liked this book because it was filled with emotion. This book has a lot of good lessons. It doesn't get boring because there are a lot of plot changes. The author described the plot and setting very well. This story also had a great story line.

The title was a bit misleading because it is not about a maze at all. This story could have been better if there was more than one main character. The main character has no major flaws that he has to work around. This book is very predictable. There is not much suspense.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book I read was The Maze by Will Hobbs, this was an interesting book but I didn’t like it very much because it was too confusing and I didn’t really know what was going on and in the book just random stuff happened and you couldn’t really keep track of what was happening. My favorite character was Lon because he let Rick (the main character) stay in his camp and he also was part of a project called the Condor Project which took care of these endangered birds and kept them safe and taught them how to live in the wilderness. My favorite quote from the book is “ a golden piece of the sun” I like this quote because its from Rick’s grandma and she used it to represent denver. My least favorite character is Nuke because he and his buddy try to ruin the Condor Project by killing the birds.

[Adam Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Maze by Will Hobbs is a Young adult, and fiction novel which captures the will of a 14 years old,Rick Walker, to soar the through the clouds. Rick meets up with Lon Peregrino, a bird researcher, who is taking care of endangered condors. He is instantly inspired to help him in his plan to bring back the population of condors. Rick is trying to forgive his mother and father for leaving years prior through out the story. The story was too easy for my tastes. Characters were a bit stale and boring but descriptive detailing of actions was quite enjoyable. I somewhat would suggest this for young readers but not to a close friend.

[Mary L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hobbs does a really good job of portraying young men at that difficult age of finding themselves, especially those who haven't had an easy time of it. Rick is a typical example of one of those youth who manages to find himself and leaves you with the feeling that he is going to be a great person when he is an adult. Just as a little side note as I was getting near the end and a storm was coming in (in the book) and the sky made it so it was very dark, I realized there was a storm coming in here and I needed to turn on my lights to continue ready. Crazy coincidence.

[Shanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rick has a rocky start to life, until circumstances lead him to a man who shows him a different choice. I really enjoyed the way Rick was able to reflect on where his life was headed and where he wanted it to go, in order to start making responsible choices again. The analogy of the maze for life was spot on- I love this quote on the cover: "When your life is a maze, you need wings." This story is very action-packed and adventurous.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love nature and make friendship. It should be no surprise that I enjoyed this book, which I read in only one day. I had previously read Far North by the same author, so I had high expectations that this book lived up to. It was different from Far North in that the friendship was a mentor/ pupil type rather than a buddy buddy type, but this is apparently more typical of Hobbs work. I’m looking forward to reading more of his books ( I already have Jason’s Gold).

[Rachel Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to pick an audio book our whole family (ages 11, 13 & adults) can listen to on a roadtrip, but this one really worked. Sympathetic characters, adventure, mystery, animals, flying -- it had a little something for everyone.

[Carter Gruver]

I think this book is pretty good but it's another book that i did not enjoy like a few others that i have read otherwise it was a good book and I think its worth your time reading, I'd give this book a three star.

[Karen Hoyt]

The Maze was pleasantly well written and had a troubling but heart-warming story. I first thought that the book had earth science themes but it really was more about ecology, the plight of the condors, which was good.

[Ranee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having a healthy fear of heights, some of the adventures had me slightly cringing but it let me also experience the thrill of the adventure from the safety of my couch. I liked the dynamics of endangered birds, endangered boy and experienced mentor.

[Jenell Bakey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine for what it is, but not my favorite book. I can appreciate that it leans YA and is plot-driven...just not enough character depth for me. I did think the info about the birds and hang gliding were interesting though.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The life story of this young adult was and amazing journey through his life and reality

[Owen Nebeker · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was a really intense book and was very fun to read

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome read! Will Hobbs is a master storyteller.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked Canyonlands National Park. This book was fine.