At this point Suzanne Collins is way more famous for her young adult series - The Hunger Games
. But she also wrote a series of middle
grade books for kids about a shadowy world that exists beneath New York
City. Collins got her inspiration for the first book, Gregor the Overlander, when:
Thinking one day about Alice in
Wonderland, she was struck by how pastoral the setting must seem to
kids who, like her own, lived in urban surroundings. In New York City,
you're much more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole and,
if you do, you're not going to find a tea party. What you might find...?
One day Gregor, a fairly average 11 year old New York kid was doing
laundry in his building's basement and simultaneously trying to keep an
eye on his 2 year old sister Boots. He has to babysit because his mom
is at work and his dad disappeared two years earlier. Boots opened a
grate behind a dryer, and fell through - taking Gregor with her as he
tried to catch her. They fall all the way to the Underland - and are
escorted by crawlers (four foot high cockroaches) to the city of the
Underlanders (a race of pale-skinned, silver-haired humans). The
Underland is a shadowy world divided between crawlers, bats, rats,
spiders, and humans.
Gregor discovers that the Underlanders believe he is The Warrior -
the answer to a prophecy made 400 years ago by the man who first
discovered the Underland and created the kingdom beneath the earth. At
first Gregor refuses the quest - but then he discovers that the rats
(the mortal enemies of the Underlanders) may be holding his father
prisoner; and the only way to rescue his father is to follow the quest.
So Gregor, Boots, and their companions set off - facing many dangers
along the way.
I really liked Gregor - he's a thoughtful kid, and a great big
brother. Boots too is a funny character, she reminded me a lot of things
Eleanor does. I did not like all the creepy-crawliness - four foot
roaches! Six feet tall rats! Enormous spiders! Shudder. But I think that
that might be exactly what makes this series appeal to middle grade
boys - I'm sure they'd love it.
It had some nice messages about inclusion and loyalty, without
being in-your-face moralistic; and made me chuckle sometimes, as
Gregor's believably 11-year-old thought processes tried to adapt to the
strange new world he and Boots had entered.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Recommended age: 8 and up
Have you/ your kids read the Underland Chronicles?
This post is day seventeen of my 31 Days of Awesome Kids' Books.
Don't forget that the giveaway from Day 14 is still open!
This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
Don't forget that the giveaway from Day 14 is still open!
This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
