Gregor the Overlander Series

Gregor the Overlander Series
By: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Rating: 4 stars

Summary:

When Gregor follows his little sister through a grate in the laundry room of their New York apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland beneath the city. There, humans live uneasily beside giant spiders, bats, cockroaches, and rats--but the fragile peace is about to fall apart.

Gregor wants no part in this conflict, but again and again, he and his family are drawn into the Underland. Gregor must find his place in the frightening prophecies he encounters, the strength to protect his family, and the courage to defend against an army of giant rats.

My Thoughts:

I have been listening to this series for the past month or so while doing some overtime at work (the reader is great one of my favorites) and I gotta admit, this isn't the kind of book I should have been listening to. I would be IM'ing my co-workers with "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" or "Baddie is gone!" or "If this person doesn't die soon I am going to lose it." I have always been an emotional reader so bringing books into the workplace has always been a risk, but this was a very fun one to take.

These books were recommended to me by a friend years ago. She worked with 6th graders and helping them read and this series is right in that ball park. Suzanne Collins is much more widely known for her Hunger Games novels, but in all honesty I loved these ones so much more. They help young children explore themes of prejudice - like with Gregor's acceptance of Twitchtip in book 2, of how far should one go to win a war (book 3 on basically), the need for self control - Gregor and his Rager abilities and, of course, the importance of family. They do read more juvenile with some of the lessons being hit a little bit over the head (book 4 veers straight into knock-you-over-the-head Holocaust allegory) but they are good lessons to explore. I feel like Collins conveyed these themes much better with this series than she did with Hunger Games. I liked Gregor much more than Katniss and there was no stupid love triangles...because the kids are 12.

I have fallen in love with the strength of the various characters - everyone needs a Mrs. Cormacy in their lives, Boots is the little sister/niece/cousin who we all grew up with, and who wouldn't want a huge bat like Aires who could fly you around.  I found this to be a fun series, it is one that I will have on my shelves when I have children/nieces&nephews/god-children because it is a fun adventure with lots of growth mixed in.

Thank you Suzanne for this marvelous adventure.