Gregor the Overlander - 1 (23 page)

I wrote most of this book at other people's houses. Dixie and Charles Pryor, Alice Rinker, and Deb and Greg Evans, I'm not sure when or if I would have finished this had you not opened up your homes to me and shared your quiet spaces.

Gregor the Overlander
is, first and foremost, the story of a family. I have been blessed with a large and loving one. So here's to the clans of Collins, Brady, Pryor, Rinker, Pleiman, Carmosino, Evans, Davis, and

Owen for being such constants in the ever-shifting world.

And speaking of family, the greatest thanks go to my husband, Cap, and my kids, Charlie and Isabel, who bring me back light every day.

AFTER WORDS

SUZANNE COLLINS'S Gregor the Overlander

CONTENTS

About the Author

Q&A with Suzanne Collins

Create Your Own Underland

Creepy Crawly Critters

Boots's Decoder Game

A Sneak Peek at
Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane
, Book Two in the Underland Chronicles

After Words guide by Jennifer Rees

About the Author

Thinking one day about
Alice in Wonderland,
Suzanne Collins was struck by how pastoral the setting must seem to kids who, like her own kids, lived in urban surroundings. In New York City, you're much more likely to fall down a manhole into the sewer than a rabbit hole, and if you do, you're not going to find a tea party. What might you find? The answer to this question can be found in Collins's first novel,
Gregor the Overlander.
Like Alice, Gregor takes a very long fall beneath his world and finds another strange place.

Gregor the Overlander
is the first in a five-part series entitled The Underland Chronicles.

In each book, Gregor must find the courage and moral fortitude to deal with a different aspect of war.

Although
Gregor the Overlander
is Suzanne Collins's first novel, she is not a stranger to writing for kids. Since 1991 she has had a successful and prolific career writing for children's television. She has worked on the staffs of several Nickelodeon shows, including the Emmy-nominated hit
Clarissa Explains It All
and
The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo.
She has also worked on shows such as
Maurice Sendak's Little Bear, Oswald the Octopus,
and
Clifford's Puppy
Days.

Suzanne Collins currently lives in Connecticut with her family.

Q&A with Suzanne Collins

Q:
Of all the places Gregor could have traveled to, why the Underland?

A: I liked the fact that this world was teeming under New York City and nobody was aware of it. That you could be going along preoccupied with your own problems and then

--
whoosh!
-- you take a wrong turn in your laundry room and suddenly a giant cockroach is right in your face. No magic, no space or time travel, there's just a ticket to another world behind your clothes dryer.

Q:
Are you anything like Gregor?

A: I think I'm like Gregor because we both want to do the right thing but sometimes have trouble figuring out what it is. Also, neither of us likes to ride rollercoasters, and we've both changed a lot of diapers.

But Gregor is much braver than I am ... if I even see a regular-sized rat in New York City, I immediately cross the street.

Q:
Many people think bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders are creepy! Did you have to get
over your fear of any (or all!) of them to write this story?

A: I wish I could say that after I researched the creepy animals I was no longer at all afraid of them ... but that would be a big fib! Cockroaches aren't really scary, just a little germy, so I don't mind them much. I love bats ... except these really loud ones that get in my attic in the summer and hold some kind of party there all night long. Spiders still scare me some, although I'm also fascinated by them and I can happily watch them from a distance. But rats ... not pet rats, but the wild kind ... I will always have what I consider to be a healthy fear of rats. You should, too.

Q:
Did you have a sibling who, like Boots, got you into a world of trouble?

A: I have two older sisters and one older brother and hold them largely responsible for the trouble I got into growing up. I believe, as the youngest child, that is my right.

Q:
Have you ever lived in
New York City?

A: I lived in New York City for 16 years, from 1987 to?oo3. But when I was growing up, we moved all the time because my dad was in the Air Force. We were mostly in the eastern half of the U.S. and in Europe but, like Gregor, I definitely know what it feels like to be a stranger somewhere.

Q:
If you had to go to the Underland, what items would you take along with you? And who
would you take with you?

A: I'd take all the flashlights and batteries I could find. I'd also take chocolate and a bottle of water, because I don't like traveling without either of these things. I would wear very comfortable clothes and sneakers ... in case I had to run.

My husband, Cap, would be great to have in the Underland, since he is very good in an emergency, but I'd want him to be with our kids up in the Overland so I'd know they were in safe hands.

(Note: Cap says he would not take me to the Underland because I am not good in an emergency and I would constantly make him stop and ask for directions. Both of these things are true.)

So I think I would take my good friend Christopher Santos with me instead, because he is very diplomatic and travels a lot and seems at ease in foreign places. Also, he would never make loud, mean remarks about the creatures which could get a person into all kinds of trouble.

In the Underland, I would make it my first order of business to hook up with a couple of bats because, let's face it, without a bat you're probably going to end up as someone's lunch.

Q:
Have you ever been lost and wanted to find your way home?

A: All the time. I have a terrible sense of direction. I get lost practically every time I leave my house. Fortunately, people are usually very kind about giving you directions if you ask politely.

Q:
If you could invite one of the characters to have dinner with your family, who would it
be
? What might you cook for them? What questions would you ask them?

A: I would invite Ripred to dinner because I think he would tell the most interesting stories. We would have to serve shrimp in cream sauce because this is his favorite dish of all.

Just to irritate him, I would tell him he had to use a napkin in order to get dessert. He would use the napkin, because dessert would be a fabulous chocolate cake and he loves food, but I bet he would glare at me the whole time.

I would ask all kinds of questions about being a rat, and living alone in the Dead Land, and about his family. Ripred sometimes sneaks up to the Overland, so I would ask him his opinion of New York City, too.

After dinner, we'd play Scrabble.

Q:
All fun aside for a moment, Gregor is also about war and battling forces and survival.

Can you tell us a bit about this?

A: Gregor falls into a fantastical world, but he's really acting out the main role in a war story. Almost as soon as he arrives in the Underland, he's recognized as the "warrior" of the prophecies and he's called upon to undertake what are essentially a series of military missions.

For instance, in Book I, he goes into enemy territory to rescue a prisoner of war who also happens to be his dad. It's never described as such, but that's what's really happening.

As the series continues, Gregor is faced with increasingly difficult quests and choices as the Underland breaks into a massive global war. His struggle to survive -- both physically and spiritually -- forms the arc of the Underland Chronicles.

Create Your Own Underland

1. Things you will need to get started:

* a notebook and some sketching paper

* writing/drawing utensils of your choice (pencils, pens, colored pencils, markers)

* a good place to think

* your imagination

* Choose your rabbit hole

Alice fell down the rabbit hole to Wonderland. Gregor fell down a grate behind the laundry room dryer to the Underland. Where do you think you might find the way to your Underland? Think about the things you do each day and the places you go. Maybe your way to the Underland is hidden in one of your favorite places, like your bedroom, your treehouse, or the mall. Maybe the way to your Underland is, like Gregor's, in a boring but unexpected place. List some of your favorite places, then list some of the places you go to everyday that might seem boring, but would actually be very surprising if they led to another world. Look at your list and decide: Where will the way to
your
Underland be? Make a drawing of that place, and make sure to include the path to your Underland.

3. How
Underland
is your Underland?

Next, it's time to think about what your Underland will look like. Will it be a dark place?

A cold place? A pretty place? A creepy place? Will it be the place of your dreams? Will it hold challenges for getting around (waterfalls, mountains, etc.)? Now do several drawings of your Underland. You can even draw a map and name the different regions.

4. Who goes there?

Who will inhabit this Underland? Humans, animals, or both? Will they be good or bad?

Will they be funny, helpful, rude, or kind? What will they look like? What kinds of things will they like to do? Sketch several of the characters you will meet in the Underland and write a brief description of each one. Make sure to give them names -- that's the fun part!

5. Travel much?

Now that you know what your Underland looks like and who will live there, it's time to decide: Will you go to the Underland alone? Or will you take someone with you? If you're going to have a companion, draw a picture of this person and yourself, and list the reasons why you want to take them along.

6. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Congratulations, you have your Underland! It's time now to write a story about how you get there and what happens to you (and the person who accompanies you) when you fall inside.

Then the real fun begins: Write the story (or stories!) of what happens when you get there.

Remember: Don't forget to come up for air every once in a while!

Creepy Crawly Critters

Let's face it: Bats, spiders, rats, and cockroaches are creepy! And if you think they live only in the Underland (and not right under your own roof), you're in for a big surprise. Just how well do you know the bats, spiders, rats, and cockroaches in your neighborhood?

Bats

* A colony of 150 big brown bats can protect local farmers from up to 33 million or more rootworms each summer.

* The common brown bat of North America is the world's longest-living mammal for its size, with a life-span sometimes exceeding 30 years.

* All mammals can contract rabies, though less than half of one percent of bats do. Bats normally bite only in self-defense and pose little threat to people who do not handle them.

* Bats are exceptionally vulnerable to extinction, in large part because they are the slowest reproducing mammals on earth for their size, most producing only one offspring a year.

Spiders

* All spiders have a pair of jaw-like structures, each of which ends in a hollow fang through which venom can be ejected.

* Most spiders have eight eyes but, surprisingly, most have poor vision. They rely instead on touch and vibration, which they sense through the hairs on their legs.

* Female spiders may produce several egg sacs, each containing up to several hundred eggs.

* A spider grows by shedding its skin (molting), usually four to twelve times before maturity.

* The venom of most spider species is not very toxic to humans, usually resulting in no more than a slight swelling, inflammation, or itching sensation. Most spiders' fangs are too small or weak to puncture human skin.

Rats

* Rats grind their teeth when they're happy. This behavior is called bruxing, and it is often compared to purring in cats.

* There are two species of house rats: brown and black. Both originated in Asia but have spread throughout the world, mostly on board ships.

* The brown rat is the larger of the two species, growing up to 10 inches long (excluding the tail) and sometimes weighing more than a pound.

* Females produce as many as 8 litters each year with as many as 20 young per litter.

Despite human efforts to exterminate rats, the world's house rat population is probably equal to the world's human population.

Cockroaches

* Cockroaches can live without food for a month, but will only survive a week without water.

* Cockroaches can withstand temperatures as cold as 30°F, but will die if the temperature goes much below that. In extremely cold places, they survive by moving in with humans.

* Young cockroaches can crawl through a crack as thin as a dime. Adult males can squeeze into a space the thickness of a quarter. Pregnant females need the most room: a space as tall as two stacked nickels.

* Cockroaches can run up to three miles an hour and hold their breath for up to 40

minutes.

* Cockroaches can climb walls because they are equipped with a set of little claws on their feet.

* Cockroaches use their feelers, or antennae, as noses. Their sense of smell is so great, they recognize family and friends by their distinctive odors.

Boots's Decoder Game

Boots seems to have her own language. Do you want to have one, too? To create a language that's fun to play with your friends (and is sure to get more than a few laughs), try a game called
One Up, One Down.
You only need a dictionary and a dash of good humor.

Playing the Game
For any given sentence, lookup the nouns in the dictionary and then replace them with the word that's either "one up" or "one down" from the original entry (you choose which).