It’s been 2 years, 7 months & 9 days since Gregor’s father disappeared without a trace, and now his little sister Boots has fallen down a vent in the laundry room which has a mysterious fog swirling out of it. Gregor quickly deciding he has to go after her, falls into the vent … they fall for what seems like forever and when they land the world they find deep down below New York City is like nothing else they have ever seen. Boots is worshipped by giant talking cockroaches, giant talking bats are man’s best friend, and their means of transportation and it seems that Gregor himself is not what he was in the Overland.
"Beware, Underlanders, time hangs by a thread.
The hunters are hunted, white water runs red.
The gnawers are sent to extinguish the rest.
The hope of the hopeless resides in a quest.
An Overlander Warrior, a son of the sun,
May bring us back light, he may bring us back none.
But gather your neighbors and follow his call
or rats will most surely devour us all.
Two over, two under, of royal descent,
Two fliers, two crawlers, two spinners assent.
One gnawer beside and one lost up ahead.
And eight will be left when we count up the dead.
The last who will die must decide where he stands.
The fate of the eight is contained in his hands.
So bid him take care, bid him look where he leaps,
As life may be death, and death life again reaps."
The Prophecy of Gray pg. 109 Gregor the Overlander
Through a series of prophecies written by the Earl of Sandwich, founder of the Underland and the city of Regalia, where most of the human Underlander’s live, Gregor, Boots and a collection of various Underland creatures and humans, embark on dangerous quests to try and keep peace throughout the Underland in the five book series. They fly miles and miles on their large bats, searching for Gregor’s father in book one, meet two gready, self-centered fireflies in books two, Boots learns to speak cockroach in book three, a rat tries to teach Gregor echo location in book four, and in book five he finally learns how to use it. But if this doesn’t sound too dangerous, or exciting to you, there are also human sized angry rats, giant spiders who can’t be trusted, flesh eating mites, man (or animal) eating jungle plants, a giant white rat who just wants to kill Gregor, and a war to end all wars – throw on a little boiling oil, flooding rivers and erupting volcanoes and you have a real adventure … The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins, also the author of The Hunger Games trilogy, it will make you laugh, cry, maybe cringe a little and want to keep reading!
bk #1 Gregor the Overlander
bk #2 Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane
bk #3 Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods
bk #4 Gregor and the Marks of Secret
bk #5 Gregor and the Code of Claw
In book #1 Gregor and his friends need help finding their way back to Regalia, the capital of the Underland, so they use a few items they happen to have with them to make a compass to point the way home. Follow this link to make your own compass with a few household items: FAA How to Make a Compass