Genre/Subject: Adventure, Mystery, Fantasy
Ages: 8-12
Plot: Since the disappearance of his father, an eleven-year-old boy named Gregor takes on extra household tasks to help his mother--including laundry and babysitting his two-year-old sister, named Lizzie. One day, Gregor loses sight of his little sister in the laundry room, of their New York apartment building. He finds his sister crawling into a grate behind the dryers. As he grabs her, they are both sucked into the grate and travel downwards passing through into the dark "Underland" beneath the city. In the Underland, there are strange humans, who are extremely pale and they live beside races of giant spiders, bats, cockroaches, and giant rats. The cockroach is tall, about four-feet, and is standing on its hind legs, holding a torch light, and begins speaking to him. The roach takes Gregor and Lizzie to the land of Regalia, where humans have purple eyes, silver hair, and translucent skin. The Regalialns believe that Gregor is a warrior and has come to fulfill an ancient prophecy "The Prophecy of Gray" and will save them from their enemies, in the Overland, the race of giant rats. Gregor tries to convince them that he is not a warrior, but he learns that his father has requested for him to come into the Underland. In this case, Gregor decides that he must try to find his father.
Review:
This book is an adventure and the "search-for-father"theme continues. Two worlds are conflicting, and a teenage boy from another world must save everyone, including his own father. This heroic story will be entertaining for tweens who like action, fantasy and adventure. The fact that Gregor has to search for his father, suggests that this story can fit into the mystery category, as well. This is a coming of age story, as well, Gregor identifies the villains and traitors, as well as the allies, in the two worlds. Each chapter is fast-paced, and details of characters clothing and personalities are vivid, as well as the battle scenes. Tweens will be eager to continue reading on to the next chapter, because the previous chapter ends with a cliffhanger conclusion. A great read for fantasy fans who like to read how prophecy is unraveled.
Book-a-like: Narnia Chronicles, Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone
Awards:
New York Best Selling Series
Kirkus Reviews Editor's Choice, 2003
2004 NAIBA Children's Novel Award
No comments:
Post a Comment