Yet that's what happened to Gregor and his little sister, Boots (aka Margaret, but she doesn't really know that), in Gregor the Overlander.
Oh, and that's also what happened to their father a couple of years ago.
That, in and of itself, isn't really too much to swallow, even though it probably should be. The hardest thing to believe in this story is that Gregor doesn't freak out upon discovering this secretive Underland. He becomes an unwilling leader and hero and the fulfillment of an Underland prophecy to boot.
After becoming friends with most of the "good guys", including humans who also live underground, he and a band of helpers rescue his father from the rats (the "bad guys") despite the presence of a human traitor.
The end of the story sets up an obvious sequel, but I won't be reading it or any of the other books in this series.
I can see how this book would be interesting to middle school kids, and I give it a lukewarm thumbs up - if thumbs can be lukewarm.
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Next on my list is Harry Potter, but I'm going to skip him because virtually everyone, including me, knows and likes him already.
If you want to hear more interesting stuff about Harry, check out Tales from Godric's Hollow instead.
