Gregor the Overlander

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

Book 1 in the series, The Underland Chronicles

Collins, S. (2003). Gregor the overlander. Scholastic Inc.: New York.

ISBN: 0439435274

Plot 
Gregor’s family is poor. He lives in a New York City apartment building with his mother, his two little sisters and grandmother. His father disappeared when he was 8. He falls down a hole into a strange place called the Underland. The Underland is a world without sunlight where cockroaches, spiders, bats and rats are human size and speak. Gregor leads a band of humans, bats, spiders, and cock roaches on a quest to rescue his father who is being held prisoner by the rats, the bad guys of the Underland. Gregor and his band of Underworlders set off into rat territory. There are battles and betrayals. The group manages to save Gregor’s father. In the midst of battle, Gregor realizes that he is the main focus of the rats’ aggression. He determines to sacrifice himself taking as many rats with him as possible. He runs out onto an unstable precipice and is followed by many rats. Their combined weight collapses the rock face. Rats fall to their death. Gregor is saved by a giant bat. The battle with the rats is won, for now. Gregor returns to his family in New York City, but not before being made aware of a prophecy which predicts his return to the Underland.

Critical Evaluation 
This story is written for the tween audience. It is fast paced and tightly plotted. The action is nonstop, yet the violence is not graphic. This book is appropriate for young audiences on both reading and interest levels. Young readers who have lost loved ones or who have been given responsibilities not normally imparted to tweens will identify with the characters of Gregor and Luxa, the young Underland Queen.

Readers Annotation 

Gregor is an 11 year old boy who falls down a grate in his laundry room into a strange, new world called the Underland. There he becomes an unwilling warrior and leads a coalition of Underlanders on a quest to rescue a fellow Overlander imprisoned there. Could this Overlander be his missing father? Gregor’s adventure will change him and the Underland. It may solve the biggest mystery of his life.

Information About the Author

Suzanne Collins is an American author born in 1964. She worked in children’s television before she became a young adult fiction writer. Gregor the Overlander was her first book. There are five books in the series. She followed it up with The Hunger Games trilogy, which has garnered her a cross over her adult audience.

Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction 

Curriculum Ties: Language Arts 
Booktalk Ideas: Facing scary new challenges. 
Reading Level: Grade 5+
Interest Level: Grade 5+
Challenge Issues: None

This book was included because it is an excellent story with high interest to the target audience written at an appropriate level.