Parents' Guide to

The Scorch Trials: Maze Runner Trilogy, Book 2

By Carrie R. Wheadon, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Teens are pawns of evil adults again in violent sequel.

Book James Dashner Science Fiction 2010
The Scorch Trials: Maze Runner Trilogy, Book 2 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

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age 13+

Based on 8 parent reviews

Love_Hamilton
Love_Hamilton Adult
November 14, 2020
age 11+

I will give different sections for each section do describe perfectly.

Violence: Death by guns, good and bad, death by metel balls that burn your face, death by deadly lightning bolts that burn you to a crisp, and more. 'Cranks' are crazy people who have the 'flare' a virus that makes you go insane with no cure. The Cranks kill people, mostly good guys. But there are no main charecter deaths in book 2. Inappropriateness: A Kiss between Thomas and Teresa, and later a kiss between Teresa and Eris for fake reasons. Brenda is definitly in love with Thomas and shows it. Language: Made up language (forgot to mention this in my review for the first book) but the whole series has language that Minho made up, from Shuck to Clunk. Drinking: A scene were not to crazy cranks invite Thomas and Brenda to a party and give them drinks that make Thomas and Brenda fall unconcious.

This title has:

Great role models
Too much violence
alyssa_is_a_ jock
alyssa_is_a_ jock Adult
April 3, 2016
age 13+

The maze runner

This book was about a group of teens and how they had to survive a place called the scorch. Having to do so they came across death and a lot of other things for example cranks, wicked. Cranks are people like us that have a dieses in order to have this disease you would go throw these stages . first is being deeply sick second is having moods swings third is getting furious for everything then the last stage is when you became a crank. Then there is Wicked they are group of intelligent people that do experiments on other people to find a cure from a dieses that they made. When Thomas and the rest fought and tried to hide from those two .while doing that a lot of good people died . In my theory I think the central conflict is Thomas and the others had to kill and hide until they made it out of the scorch and into paradise . I imagined this book being different but it was an amazing book after all learning about how they suffered in there world made me believe we should respect this world if we don't want to end up like them. I would recommend this book to any one who loves to read about death and having to think beyond themself.

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 8 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Safe and sound -- that's what the survivors of the maze thought they were at the end of The Maze Runner. But that was just phase one. The "rescuers" are disposed of gruesomely (or is it an illusion?), and the government agency WICKED is back in control, forcing the remaining teens to endure the Scorch Trials: a two-week 100-mile march through a pitch-black tunnels, punishing desert, and, worst of all, a town full of crazed diseased people, who, if they're far gone enough, would love to eat them for breakfast. New revelations come out before the death march begins -- many of them tattooed directly on the boys' necks. Thomas' tattoo says he's supposed to be killed by Group B, the group of teen girls who survived an identical maze. And worse than that, Theresa is stolen from his group and sent to Group B, suddenly pitting him against his closest friend. Worst of all, all the teens are told they have the dreaded disease and need to finish the trials in order to get the cure or suffer madness and death.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (8):
Kids say (65):

Teens who read THE SCORCH TRIALS just for the adventure and don't mind pointless carnage in a darker-than-dark dystopia will find a fast-paced read. Readers who look a little deeper will be depressed by the grimness of it all and struck by some nagging logical flaws. A government agency killing off teens? How can they really be getting anything from that? They could just swoop them up before the last lethal second and take them out of the trial instead. Why make machines that decapitate the teens in pitch-blackness? It shows that these people are sadistic, not scientific. The teens -- and readers -- are strung along, believing it will all make sense in the end. Memories will return and it will all be for the greater good. Really? Decapitation machines? The last book in the trilogy has a lot of explaining to do ...

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about what a dark dystopian world this is. How is it different from other books you've read? Do you think the characters have anything to live for? Do you think scientists would be justified in killing human subjects for any reason?

  • Do you think all the violence in this book kept the story exciting or made the whole idea of teen test subjects too implausible?

  • What do you think the teens left alive will find out if their memories are ever restored?

Book Details

  • Author: James Dashner
  • Genre: Science Fiction
  • Book type: Fiction
  • Publisher: Delacorte Press
  • Publication date: October 12, 2010
  • Publisher's recommended age(s): 12 - 17
  • Number of pages: 368
  • Last updated: July 12, 2017

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