Gregor the Overlander

This is a review of the audio book.

Author: Suzanne Collins

Reader: Paul Boehmer

Producer: Listening Library

Production Year: 2005

Most of the listeners will be: 4th-7th grade boys and girls. 

Listener's Advisory: For another book involving a quest, a hidden fantasy world, and battle scenes, listen to Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising. 

Summary: 

Gregor (11) and his two-year-old sister Boots fall through a grate in their laundry room into the Underland. He discovers there not only giant bats, cockroaches, spiders, and rats, but a society of humans. His father, lost for almost three years may be in the Underland. But most interesting of all is the possibility that Gregor is the warrior promised in a cryptic prophesy. He doesn't feel like a warrior, but he could pretend to be one if the Underlanders will help him find his dad. 

My favorite passage:

When Gregor and Boots first land in the Underland they are discovered by giant cockroaches. Boots is immediately fascinated by them and calls out to them, "Big bugs!" The cockroaches also like Boots, asking "Smells what, so good, smells what?" The smell they like is emanating from Boots's diaper! The cockroaches soon decide that Boots is a princess and one carries her on his back as they travel to the human city. 

What I really think:

I have been trying to sell the Underland books to students who bemoan the fact our elementary library doesn't have The Hunger Games. Now I can report that the Underland is a difficult place to live and the first novel at least does contain some gruesome fights and death...if that's what young readers are after. However, it is tamer than The Hunger Games, so I still feel comfortable recommending it. 

I, personally, got so in to the beginning of the story that I forgot about my rule about sparing myself from books in which babies and toddlers suffer. I get very upset by this and it maybe isn't worth it. I was happily enjoying Princess Boots as a character and then Gregor takes her on a fast-moving, underground river in a boat made of skins with no life-jackets! And then they are attacked by rats! Fortunately, Boots survives this episode and isn't put in much danger during the rest of the book, so I was able to listen comfortably. 

Gregor is a very standard hero. Reluctant at first to step up to this role, but ultimately the master of his own fate. His willingness to sacrifice himself for the group in the end is an especially nice touch. 

The ending is a little unsatisfactory in that it isn't clear why no Overlander has returned to the surface before, but Gregor, Boots, and their father are flown there by bat without much trouble. Gregor begs to go home when he first arrives and it seems impossible. Maybe the currents weren't right at the time, but more explanation would have been better. 

I found Boehmer's voice for Gregor not 11-year-old-like enough. I'm not sure I can explain, but it just seemed too formal. My favorite was his voice for Rip Red, the rat that betrays his own people to help the humans on their quest. He sounds bored and sinister - love it!

It is certainly old news that Collins is a thrilling author, but I'm glad to see for myself that her early work is every bit as good as her recent hits. 

The Traitor Game

Author: B. R. Collins

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Publication Year: 2008

Most of the readers will be: Late middle school and early high school boys.

Reader's advisory: For another book that contains an ancient kingdom try Bloodline by Katy Moran.

Summary:
Francis has always been nice to Michael. They meet on Saturdays to draw maps and make up stories about their imaginary country: Evgard. Michael is sure that Francis is his friend, until he finds a note in his locker that says, "I know where Aracaster is." Aracaster is part of Evgard and only he and Francis know about it. Michael is forced to conclude that Francis has told someone about Evgard. Maybe Francis isn't really his friend. Maybe he has been laughing at Michael behind his back all along. After Michael was beaten up by bullies at his last school he promised himself he would never be a victim again. No one will laugh at him, not even Francis.
Meanwhile, Argent has been captured by the Duke of Aracaster. Most of the Mereish prisoners are kept in the dungeon, but Argent lives in the castle as a slave to the Duke. Then, the Duke's son, Columen, befriends him, and even swindles him away from his father. When Mereish fighters attack the castle, whith whom will Argent side?

My favorite passage:

Judas floors don't exist in the real world. At least, if they did, Michael had never heard of them, and he definitely hadn't seen anyone fall through one. But for a second he thought he knew how it would feel: the black, sick terror of falling, knowing that the best you could hope for at the bottom was cold stone, and the worst . . . well, if you were lucky you didn't have time to think about the worst. In his imagination he'd made people dance pavanes and galliards on the great Judas floor at Calston, but it was only now that he really understood the horror of it. One moment you were there, in the middle of your galliard, hopping around as gracefully as you could, and then -
He remembered, irrelevantly, that there was a net underneath the floor at Calston to break your fall, so for a second you'd almost think it was some twisted practical joke. Until you saw the vipers nesting in the ropes near your face . . . (pg 16)

What I really think:
I like to read before I go to bed and this was one of those books that isn't so good for that. It actually makes you more awake and kind of stressed out. There are so many issues here: bullying, friendship, homosexuality...
Bullying is a really difficult issue and I'm not sure Collins has cleared it up. Francis tells Michael at one point that he wants to see him stand up for himself. When Michael truly does stand up for himself (spoiler) he gets pushed through a window. He feels better about himself, but he still gets injured.
The friendship issues are important ones. Teenagers can break friendships just as quickly as they make them, and I like Collins's message that you can't undo the damage you have done, but maybe you can still reconcile with a friend you have hurt.
I like that the fact that one of the characters is gay is a side issue. It isn't the reason that bad stuff happens initially, but it is the reason stuff gets worse. This book isn't about being gay, but it does illustrate the need for some sensitivity.
The intermittent chapters that take place in Aracaster are a nice touch. At first I was annoyed that I was being dragged away from the "real" story. But ultimately I enjoyed those chapters just as much as the chapters about Michael and Francis.