Gregor the overlander is a adventure/fantesy book written by susanne collins. When gregor falls through a hole in the laundry room,He gos on a fantastic journey though the underland to find his long lost father.This book is for young adults and is a fantastic book with suspence,action,and fantesy

Reviewed by Mechele R. Dillard for TeensReadToo.com

After surviving a bizarre fall through a gateway to the Underland--conveniently located in the laundry room of their NYC apartment building--eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister Boots discover a world filled with giant talking cockroaches, rats, spiders, and bats. The humans of this formidable world take them in as "guests," but, as Gregor astutely observes, "Guests could leave it they wanted to" (p. 54). Not knowing whom to trust, Gregor flees the palace with Boots, inadvertently igniting the prophesied war between the humans and rats.

Highlighting Gregor's role as the consistently responsible older brother, Collins creates a heroic character for young adult readers even before revealing that Gregor is about to fulfill his destiny as "an Overland Warrior, a Son of the Sun" (p. 109). Yes, there is violence, but not simply for the sake of being violent; Collins's use of violence is appropriate to her story.

Gregor is a great introduction for readers who are new to the fantasy genre. The main characters are human, and are well-grounded in reality--New York City, doing laundry, babysitting, summer camp. Still, there is enough of the fantastic--giant talking animals, gateways into another world, prophecies--to stimulate the imagination and introduce newcomers to fantasy without being overwhelming.

Massachusetts Children's Book Award Honor Book, 2006

Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award, 2006

NAIBA Book of the Year Award, 2004 ( )

This is a wonderful book! The characters are entertaining (this book would be nothing without Boots, she really makes the story) and the adventure doesn't drag on for ages like many books of this type. You'll laugh for sure, you'll fell connected to the characters, and I think you'll be glad you read it! ( )

I read the book several years ago and wanted to give the audio a try. The story's an action-packed fantasy adventure that explores war between humans and rats in the Underland - a land far beneath the streets of New York. The narration was okay, but this wasn't one of my favorite audiobooks. Still, I might pick up the next book in the series... ( )

630L,GL 4.9,GRL V,11 copies