SOLVED. Maze and Telepathy With Cat [s]

[Kat]

I read a book back in middle school about a young man looking to get to...a legendary country, I think. What I recall is that in the beginning there was a great maze he had to pass through, and he met a people in the maze who had given up their journey and urged him to do so, as well, because to them all life was simply the maze. I think he walked on top of the maze walls to get out.

There's a great grand middle part I can't recall. But in the end he wound up caged in a...circus? Some form of traveling show, and in the cage next to him was a great cat. He developed a mental telepathy with the beast, eventually escaped with him, and together they escaped to the legendary country.

If this is familiar to anyone, I'd love to know the title. Thanks!

[Amanda]

Sounds like The Maze in the Heart of the Castle by Dorothy Gilman.

You might also be interested in her book The Tightrope Walker as well, as it's the book in which she first came up with the idea for The Maze In The Heart of the Castle, which is an integral part of the mystery story.

[Shanna_redwind]

I agree with Amanda. It was a book I loved as a child.

[Kat]

I think that is it, yes!