When Gregor falls after his little sister down the laundry shoot he finds himself in a new land. He is faced with deciding where to place his loyalties, how to survive and given the opportunity to search for his father who unaccountably disappeared 2 years ago. This book has ruined my entire day! I have laundry to fold, dinner to cook, breakfast to eat, 3 papers to write and lesson plans to develop. Instead, I've spent my morning snuggled under a down quilt devouring Gregor the Overlander. As soon as I finished it I slid into my car and ran back to work to collect the next four books in the series. It looks like the rest of my life is going on hold for awhile. Good-by responsibiliy, Good-by family, HELLO UNDERLANDERS!I have always loved fairytales and mysteries in the Agatha Christie model. It's restful and reassuring to know there may be trials and tribulations but good will always defeat evil and the deserving will live happily ever after.Gregor the Overlander carries these themes forward but provides subtle opportunities for the reader to question their convictions about "right and wrong" through the protagonist's encounters with various species in the Underworld. Equally appealing is the sharing of Gregor's thoughts as he begins to recognize the limits he has set for himself with self imposed rules after his father's disappearance. So often books of this genre for the elementary crowd become preachy and moralistic. Suzanne Collins does not preach. She invites the reader to explore issues about tolerance, responsibility, growing up, and loyalty for themselves. This first book is the equal of the Harry Potter books exploring the same issues with an emotional power and linguistic accessablity for the 5th-8th grade crowd. I've listed a few of my favorite quotes below. 1) .."And then there was Tick. Brave little Tick who had flown into the face of an army of rats to save his baby sister. Tick--who never spoke much. Tick--who shared her food. Tick--who was after all just a roach. Just a roach who had given all the time she had left so that Boots could have more. ...Somehow Tick's sacrifice had crushed whatever thin shell remained between him and sorrow. From now on he felt an allegiance to the roaches he knew would never fade."2) "Well, Boot's courage might only count when she could count, but her ability to love counted all the time."3) "No one who spends years with the rats can expect to be unchanged....but will his mind and body heal, I believe so."4) "He was done with the rule now. For good. Even if times got bad he would never again deny himself the possibility that the future might be happy even if the present was painful. He would allow himself dreams."Because I teach in a school where far too many children have parents and siblings in jail, I intend to use this book as one of a collection about children who overcome the odds to determine their own destiny.Reviews: 1) Booklist starred (November 15, 2003 (Vol. 100, No. 6)) Recommends for gr. 4-7 and states.."Collins creates a fascinating, vivid, highly original world and a superb story to go along with it. ..This is sure to be a solid hit with young fantasy fans.2) Horn Book starred (Spring 2004) writes "Collins sends a reluctant Gregor on the classic hero's journey in this fast-paced, immensely satisfying narrative."Both of these reviews would incline me towards the book's purchase. Several of the other reviews also mention it is one of a series and they all recommend it for the same age groups. What the reviewers fail to say is now much parents would enjoy sharing this book with their children.
This review is for the entire Underland Chronicles series.So, firstly, I want to say that my favourite thing about these books, and all of Suzanne Collin’s writing, is that she writes for and about children as if they are capable and intelligent people. Even the two year old in the books is treated as a character with depth and growth and understanding. The scene in the fourth book, where Gregor finally realizes he has to explain death to his youngest sister is tragic and beautiful.The world these books take place in so vastly different from ours it almost couldn’t be anything but a metaphor for ours.The story begins with Gregor and his two year old sister Boots (I believe her real name is Margaret, but no one ever calls her that) fall through a grate in their laundry room, fall and fall, and fall. When they finally land, carried gently to the ground by air currents, they are among giant cockroaches.They are quickly brought to the Underland city of Regalia, where the humans dwell and are thrown into events surrounding an ancient prophecy.As the books progress and more prophecies happen understanding who are the bad guys and who are the good guys becomes more and more difficult. And it is this dilemma that makes the books as fantastic as they are to me. This honesty, this integrity that the writing has to real life is resonating and poignant. I love that in the languages of the other creatures in the Underland humans are called “killers” and the most atrocious act (well one of the two) performed in the books is performed by a human who was fighting on the “good” side.I hated this human for two books. Would have been happy to see her die. And then she did die. Quietly, with nothing anyone could do to help her. And it was tragic and sad. And I felt her loss.I also loved how deaths in this book were sudden and plentiful. Which sounds weird in a children’s book, after all most of the deaths in Harry Potter were these big climatic moments that shook that world on its hinges. But so often in life death happens when you can’t afford to stop and grieve. Death is like that here. It happens suddenly, and stupidly, and heroically, and at the most inconvenient time.The characters are all different and never seem to get along for more than brief periods of time which keeps things interesting. And I am continually impressed with Collins ability to make even the briefest of characters have depth and motivations. A small thing that I really enjoyed was how she gave each race a different cadence of speech. As if they really were from different lands and had accents and such.And I loved Temp (the cockroach) he was awesome.Throughout the books Collins demonstrates her ability to write fast paced, entertaining stories while displaying an empathy to war torn cultures and soldiers hardly ever seen in adult books, let alone children’s books. If I had young children, I would make them read these simply for the fact that she challenges the reader to not think of wars as good guys and bad guys but as two societies doing atrocious things to one another. And how, ultimately, everyone suffers and no one gains.Reviewed on WhatchYAreading on August 5, 2010.
What do You think about Gregor The Overlander (2005)?
Okay I will admit that at first I was bored with the book. I read this book right after reading Pulse and Keeper of the Lost Cities so the plot just seemed a bit dull and it was pretty short-paced (at least for me because I am not patient). But after they fell into the Underland I was devouring this book one page at a time. I really like the character of Gregor and Luxa and who can forget BOOTS! Yeah yeah, not her real name, I don't care!(view spoiler)[ Anyway, Tick's death made me sit down and stare at the wall for a bit, yes I was very sad. Glad Temp survived the entire book and all but TICK! Over all this book both made me laugh and stare at the wall like a crazy person, but I loved this book and here I am five years later and I can still recall almost every detail of the book. Wait for it....wait for itt...FANGIRL TIME! (hide spoiler)]
—❤Nobody❤
I liked this, but am trying to decide whether I liked it enough to want to read the rest of the series. I am intrigued by Suzanne Collins's apparent fascination with violence and its effect on those who witness it/are involved in it, which of course played a major part in THE HUNGER GAMES (which was amazing, if somewhat harrowing at times). And I do think she does a good job of developing a distinct cast of different characters, and creating plot twists I hadn't foreseen.But the prophecies... oh
—R.J.
With a few exceptions, I am not typically a big fan of science fiction/fantasy, nor of bugs and rats and dark places. Had I not read and loved The Hunger Games, I never would have even considered reading this book. And I would have most certainly been missing out.This is Suzanne Collin's first novel, and it is quite a first novel. Gregor the Overlander centers around an eleven-year-old boy and his little sister who fall through a grate in the laundry room of their apartment complex. After being hurtled down a long tunnel, they find themselves in the midst of a strange Underland full of talking giant cockroaches, rats, bats and spiders, as well as humans with translucent skin and violet eyes. As the children become acquainted with the strange beings and history of this mysterious land, a prophetic quest forms to find Gregor's long lost father (believed to have fallen victim to some of the creatures here years earlier), and lots of adventure ensues.Apparently, the author was inspired to write this book after wondering what Alice and Wonderland may have been like had it taken place in a city, where one is more likely to fall down a manhole than a bunny hole. I thought it was a fantastic story; a real page turner that, amidst all the adventure, asks its reader to consider issues of friendship, responsibility, tolerance, acceptance, determination and loyalty. Very imaginative and well written. I highly recommend it, particularly if you enjoy YA fantasy or loved The Hunger Games.
—Laurel
