Friday Feature: Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

This is the first book in the Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins.  Yes it's true, she wrote a series before the Hunger Games.  Gregor the Overlander is a middle grade read about a boy who follows his sister down a laundry shoot and discovers an entire world living under New York City.  This world is on the brink of war, and Gregor is now in the middle of it because of a prophecy that was written long ago.  It has an Alice and Wonderland feel, but is definitely geared more towards boys. I picked this book up the summer after finishing Half Blood Prince and really needed some kind of adventure series to fill the void.  It did not disappoint!  I became very addicted to this series.  There are five books all together and each one is amazing!  When the series ended, I was so disappointed because I really needed to read more.  After several searches on the internet, I found out she was writing a new series called the Hunger Games.  I was standing outside Waldenbooks the day it was released.  It was not a highly anticipated book, so they hadn't even gotten it out of the shipping box yet.  I was so worried about starting Hunger Games because I was sure it would not surpass her first series.  As a testament to her amazing writing abilities, she completely wowed me again.  As great as Hunger Games is, I will always hold Gregor a little closer to my heart.  Maybe it's because it's the first book I read by her, maybe I it's because I liked the ending better, or maybe it was just the fantasy feel.  All I know is that whenever I think of this series it makes me smile.