Suzanne Collins - Gregor the Overlander

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!

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 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 GameFor 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).

Tip: If the word is the same one up or down, skip until you find one that's different.

For example --

The sentence: The little dog laughed to see such a sight and the dish ran away with the spoon. The nouns: dog, sight, dish, spoon.

Dog: The entry above is doff. The one below is dogged.

Sight: sigh, sigil

Dish: disgusting, dishabille

Spoon: spool, spoonerism

The new sentence: The little doff laughed to see such a sigil and the dishabille ran away with the spool.

Or: The little dogged laughed to see such a sigh and the disgusting ran away with the spoonerism.

You'll see that if you play around with the words, you can come up with several combinations!

Write a letter to a friend using One Up, One Down and including the rules. Working backwards, can they figure out what you were trying to say? The results can be funny.

Variations: replace the verbs or the adjectives. See if your friends can guess what it is you've replaced.

The action and adventure continue! In the months since Gregor first encountered the strange Underland beneath New York City, he's sworn he won't ever go back. But when another prophecy -- this time about the Bane, an ominous white rat -- calls for Gregor's help, the Underlanders know the only way they can get his attention is through his little sister, Boots. Now Gregor's quest reunites him with his bat Ares, the rebellious princess Luxa, and other allies -- and sends them through the dangerous and deadly waterway in search of the Bane. Then Gregor must face the possibility of his greatest loss yet and make life-and-death choices that will determine the future of the Underland.