Skip to main content

Memory Maze

Cover image for Memory maze
Memory Maze
by Gordon Korman
Scholastic, 2014. Science Fiction, 234 p.

In this sequel to The Hypnotists, Jax has relocated with his family to Connecticut in an attempt to hide from the evil Dr. Mako  They have taken on new names, and his parents are attempting, without much success, to take on new careers. Jax is having a hard time fitting in at school because he has to take extra measures to keep from hypnotizing people. Despite his best efforts to keep a low profile, he ends up winning the school chess competition.  This leads him to competitions on the district and state level, and brings him to the attention of an elderly tycoon who figures out Jax's real identity. The tycoon promises to pay Jax handsomely to put him into a deep hypnotic state in an effort to slow the advance of the old man's terminal illness.  As Jax starts creating daily extended hypnotic connections with the man, Jax starts to experience his memories. There is more in the man's head than Jax had bargained for and soon Jax is struggling to maintain his anonymity, his family's safety and his own sanity. While the first in the series was a "kid with super power" type book, this second is more like a psychological thriller. As the plot advances, both Jax and the reader are not quite sure what is reality and what is illusion. This book will appeal to older grade school and middle school kids who like the fast paced action of the Percy Jackson and Alex Rider books.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

From Story Time: The Letter "V"

  Preschool Time Harold Finds a Voice By Courtney Dicmas Auburn, ME: Child's Play Inc., 2013. Picture Book. Harold is an amazing mimic, and can imitate the sound of everything in his home. Tired of repeating the same old noises, he yearns to find out what other voices there are in the big, wide world. But what happens when he suddenly realizes that he doesn't yet have a voice of his own? --Editor Preschool Time Don't Blow Your Top! Written by Ame Dyckman Illustrated by Abhi Alwar New York: Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., 2023. Picture Book. Big Volcano and Little Volcano live side by side in paradise, but when a silly bird drops a coconut (or two) on Little Volcano's crater he blows his top. --Editor Toddler Time Vlad, the Fabulous Vampire By Flavia Z. Drago Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2023. Picture Book. Vlad is a vampire with the misfortune of having rosy cheeks that--gasp!--make him look abysmally alive. But being the fabulous vampire t

Review: The Teeny-Weeny Unicorn

The Teeny-Weeny Unicorn By Shawn Harris New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2024. Picture book. Do not be fooled into thinking this is like other unicorn books you have read, this one is much better. The teeny-weeny unicorn is truly teeny-weeny -- far and away the smallest member of his unicorn family. His older (much bigger) siblings, Fancy Annie and Prince Butterscotch, pick on him constantly. They use him as a pawn when they play chess, they refuse to let him jump into their castle's moat, and they warn him he'll get lost in the lawn. Fed up with being picked on, he runs away and does, indeed, get lost in the lawn. He quickly learns about perspective when an even teenier-weenier gnome chastises the teeny-weeny unicorn for stepping on and crushing his car. Eager to make this right, and also a little proud of his size, the unicorn and gnome gallop back to the castle to make amends. In the end, the teeny-weeny unicorn stands a little bit taller with his new perspective. A wholly origina

From Story Time: The Letter "T"

  Preschool Time  Never Show a T-Rex a Book Written by Rashmi Sirdeshpande Illustrated by Diane Ewen Tulsa: Kane Miller, a division of EDC Publishing, 2021. Picture Book. Never ever show a T-Rex a book! Can you imagine what might happen if you did? A laugh-out-loud story that's brimming with imagination, mayhem, and a celebration of the power of books. --Editor Preschool Time Turtle in a Tree By Neesha Hudson New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2021. Picture Book. Two dogs learn the importance of listening to others when they disagree over what they see in a tree. --Editor Toddler Time The Fastest Tortoise in Town Written by Howard Calvert Illustrated by Karen Obuhanych Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2023. Picture Book. Barbara Hendricks, a tortoise, has entered a road race, but what was she thinking? With only a week to go before the big day, she worries that she doesn't stand a chance against the other animals competing. Barbara's friend and owner, Lorra