Suzanne Collins - Gregor the Overlander

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.

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 TMguide by Jennifer Rees

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: 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.