Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
The Underland Chronicles: Book Three - Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods
Fiction Series
For ages 12 and up
Scholastic, 2006 ISBN: 978-0439656245
Now that his father is back from the Underland, life is definitely better for Gregor and his family, and yet Gregor still feels unsettled and worried. When he left the Underland the last time he knew that he would have to go back some day. After all, some of the friends that he made in that strange and frightening world were missing and could be in terrible danger. Shouldn't he go back to try to find them?
In the end the Underland comes to get Gregor. This time it is not just Gregor and his little sister Boots who return to the underground world; this time the children take their mother with them.
When they arrive in the great city of Regalia, they discover that the people are living in terror of a horrible plague which has already killed many rats and which may, at any time,infect the people in the city. What the leaders of Regalia want from Gregor is for him to go out into the wilderness of their land to find a cure for the illness. With a strange and hard to understand prophecy to guide them, the leaders put together a very unlikely group of characters and then send them out to find a plant which may provide the cure for the disease. Gregor is committed to the search not only because his friend Ares is sick, but because his mother also contracts the terrible disease.
Facing all kinds of dangers, both hidden and overt, Gregor and his companions make their way towards a place where they hope they will find the plant that they are seeking. The companions bicker among themselves, and yet as time passes they come to learn that they have much in common in this time of trouble.
Suzanne Collins’ latest book in the Underland Chronicles series is gripping and superbly crafted, and it is, at times, nerve-wracking to read. The author pays careful attention to detail, thus creating a tale about an underground world that feels as real as the above ground world that we live in. She also keeps us on our toes throughout the narrative. Treachery is the last thing Gregor and his friends are expecting and yet they find it in the most unexpected place.
