Gregor the Overlander:Fantasy Chapter Book Reflection

Collins, S. (2003). Gregor the overlander. New York, NY: Scholastic.

        This book is a really good book. This is a modern fantasy- refers to the body of literature in which the events, the settings, or characters are outside the realm of possibility.  It falls into the Quest Stories-adventure stories with a seach motif, which is a section of Modern Fantasy.  This is a story many of my students would truly enjoy.  I actually bought the series last year at the end of the year for my classroom library.  

Summary:
        It is about an 11-year-old boy who stays at home while the rest of the kids are at a camp, which he at first is pretty upset about. Gregor is alone with his crazy old grandmother who doesn’t even hear very well, and his little sister, Boots. He goes to do the laundry one day, and finds a chute that leads to the Underworld. He then falls down with his little sister and he arrives in the Underworld. He is picked up by a giant cockroach which takes him to a massive arena. Gregor and Boots are taken to a castle and given Underlander clothes. They attempt to escape through the Waterway, but they are attacked by two massive, talking rats. When Gregor and Boots are about to be eaten, 4 bats and their riders appear to rescue Gregor and Boots. When they get back to the castle, Vikus decides that Gregor truly is the warrior of the prophecy. Vikus then takes Gregor, Boots, Henry, and Luxa on a quest, but first they must find the other members. They set off to find the people/creatures needed. First they go to the crawlers. They take two crawlers, Temp and Tick. They then go to the spinners to get two spinners. The Queen of Spiders refuses and holds them as prisoners. They eventually break out, thanks to Luxa, and escape to the Dead Land. There, Vikus can take them no further, so he brings a rat named Ripred to guide them to the rat's home. There, Henry reveals himself to be a spy and summons an army of rats and the rat king to kill Gregor. Gregor realizes that the rats will try to kill him, no matter the danger, so he jumps off the edge of a cliff, and sure enough, the rats follow him. As Gregor falls, Henrys' bat catches him instead of Henry, so Gregor is saved but Henry is not. The team goes back to Regalia, and Ripred gathers a political party of rats to help him ascend to the throne. Gregor, Boots, and their father return home to the Overland.

Geography Activity: Scholastic.com

Map the Underland

Challenge students to map the fantasy world of the Underland, starting with Gregor’s fall through the grate and ending with his return to New York City. They should include the major parts of the Underland including Regalia, the lands of the crawlers, spinner, and gnawers; and the portals between the Underland and the Overland.