My son and I were about 25 pages into Gregor the Overlander as a read-aloud when I finally realized that the writer — Suzanne Collins — is the writer of The Hunger Games, too. It was an interesting connections — Gregor was one of her first series, and Collins notes in the book that she was inspired to write Gregor after thinking of Alice in Wonderland, and how her fall into the rabbit hole opened up a portal to a strange world.
Gregor the Overlander tells the story of Gregor, and his little sister, Boots, who fall through a grate in their New York City laundry room, and land in the Underland — a world below the surface of the city. Here, huge rats, cockroaches, bats and more live with a forgotten band of human refugees, and the world is in danger. A prophecy says a hero will come to save the day, and of course, it is Gregor, on a mission to rescue his father (who has been captured by the evil rats).
I can’t say that Gregor is all that original. Even my seven-year-old son asked why so many stories have the sons saving their fathers (to which I replied that I expect him to save me if I ever get captured by evil rats or, as in Summerland, a trickster god. He was non-committal – which makes me a little nervous). And I feel as if Neil Gaiman did a better job of this underworld with his Neverwhere novel, albeit for an older reader. But still, for the age level, Gregor moved along at nice pace, with pretty decent characters, and enough hints to keep the series going.
As luck with have it, a neighbor has the entire series of Gregor and are eager to lend them to us, to share the story. So, I guess we’re going back into the world beneath the streets to continue the story.
Peace (in the world beneath the world),
Kevin
I thought this series got better–at least more intense in its portrayal of war–as it went along. Gregor has to face some truths about himself and ask just how far is too far.