Gregor and the Marks of Secret

This series got better and better!

SPOILER ALERT!!

I am still tickled that Mrs. Cormaci was invited into the family secret, and DELIGHTED that Lizzie was brought into the Underland! Of course we knew she was the code cracker, but it was utterly charming to see it happen. I also loved Ripred's confession about his use of the prophecies, and Luxa's indulgent awareness of Ripred's deceit. The characters became rich and full in this book, and the moral tension (to fight or to refuse, to help one's family or to help one's friends) resolved itself perfectly. This was an utterly enjoyable (and fast) read.

When the kids who are reading this book now learn about the Holocaust in high school, they may very well think, "Whoa, that gassing stuff reminds me of Gregor and the Marks of Secret."

Of course, as someone who already knows about Nazis, the WWII analogies in this book are hard to miss. One weird thing is that this is the second book I've read that uses mice to portray Jews (the other is [book: Maus]).

On another note, this is the only book in the series that isn't totally satisfying on its own. It definitely feels like a stop-gap between the third book and the final one. But I still really liked it.

Up until this point, I think, the Underland Chronicles were simply entertaining, if somewhat typical, children's reads. Obviously, I enjoyed them -- I got this far, didn't I? But I was enjoying the fun of them, the adventure of them...

However, the fourth Underlander book gets serious. While the notions of family, justice, and fate that are emphasized in all the other chronicles are present here, this book has more weight for two reasons.

Firstly, it's a pretty solid mystery. I felt the ultimate direction of books one to three were fairly obvious from the get go. Not so here. There's a greater sense of danger, as well.

Secondly, the comparisons to the holocaust simply must be made. And this is no light, easy introduction to the notion of show more genocide. It's grim and brutal.

Like the Harry Potter series, this one has grown with its readers -- fun if you happen to be around for it, not so fun when you are 8 and can't understand why mom wants you to wait to finish the series.

However, as a grownup reader of kids' books, I'm really enjoying it. show less

these are definitely getting more mature with all the death and dying and the romance adjacent feelings that gregor is starting to have. this wasn't my favorite of the series so far but it's setting up what feels like will likely be a pretty epic final book in the series. and, as always, it was full of adventure and excitement, some gray morality, and good writing.

I liked this book better than the previous one. I was starting to feel like the series was a bit slow after reading the third book, but this one zipped by and I'm anxious to read the next.

Fourth book in the series, with good plot & character development. At times, Gregor's self-centered, self pity gets to be a bit much, but it's realistic for the age. (It reminds me of Harry Potter in the 5th & 6th books. I guess it's hard to be an adolescent savior.) The parallels to the Holocaust were very clear, which I think is a great way to make history more accessible to the target audience (middle school). I really like how Gregor begins to see that the humans have also done horrible things, and are not blameless.

The Underland Chronicles continues its compelling story. This one is set apart from it's predecessors as it doesn't follow a quest. Instead it finds Gregor and his family in everyday interaction with the Underland, only falling into adventure to solve mysteries that crop up eventually leading to war between the Underland humans and the rats. The story continues to grow dark with imagery reminiscent of the Nazi Holocaust and the killing fields of Pol Pot. This book is also essentially a two-parter leading right into the final book Gregor and the Code of the Claw.