30 in 2010 Review #1: Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
Adventure, horror, happy ending -- the hallmarks of young readers fiction, and Gregor the Overlander is a prime example of it.
This is the first book in The Underland Chronicles and starts the series off smartly. All the things making 11-year-old Gregor's life a sad one (including his father disappearing two years before) are introduced in the first chapter, which ends with his baby sister falling down a hole while he's babysitting her. He dives after her and the two somehow survive the fall but are confronted by a world completely different from home, with giant rats, spiders, bats, and cockroaches and a human kingdom that's never seen the sun. Gregor's only goal is to get himself and his sister back home, even if it means sacrificing the people of Underland, until he finds out that his father is in the Underland enslaved by the rat king. Prophecy is invoked, a quest is undertaken, and relationships are turned topsy turvy before the happy ending.
This is an excellent start to a series aimed squarely at the intermediate reader, say 4th grade up. Both boys and girls will like it because it has a good mix of adventure and relationships. No romance, at least not yet, but seeds are planted for perhaps a bit of adolescent romance in future books.
If you enjoy young reader books because of their relatively simple plots and straightforward relationships (and you're not squeamish about giant cockroaches!), you'll like Gregor the Overlander. I like young readers and young adult books because they're a fast afternoon read with little aftertaste, something I can read and forget when I just need an escape. If you haven't read even a young adult book in years, Gregor may come off a little too young for you. While I enjoyed Gregor, I probably won't go on to read the rest of the books in the series.
Rating (out of 5 stars):
This is the first book in The Underland Chronicles and starts the series off smartly. All the things making 11-year-old Gregor's life a sad one (including his father disappearing two years before) are introduced in the first chapter, which ends with his baby sister falling down a hole while he's babysitting her. He dives after her and the two somehow survive the fall but are confronted by a world completely different from home, with giant rats, spiders, bats, and cockroaches and a human kingdom that's never seen the sun. Gregor's only goal is to get himself and his sister back home, even if it means sacrificing the people of Underland, until he finds out that his father is in the Underland enslaved by the rat king. Prophecy is invoked, a quest is undertaken, and relationships are turned topsy turvy before the happy ending.
This is an excellent start to a series aimed squarely at the intermediate reader, say 4th grade up. Both boys and girls will like it because it has a good mix of adventure and relationships. No romance, at least not yet, but seeds are planted for perhaps a bit of adolescent romance in future books.
If you enjoy young reader books because of their relatively simple plots and straightforward relationships (and you're not squeamish about giant cockroaches!), you'll like Gregor the Overlander. I like young readers and young adult books because they're a fast afternoon read with little aftertaste, something I can read and forget when I just need an escape. If you haven't read even a young adult book in years, Gregor may come off a little too young for you. While I enjoyed Gregor, I probably won't go on to read the rest of the books in the series.
Rating (out of 5 stars):