Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

Have you ever wondered what creatures might live under the earth? Could there be another world full of huge cockroaches, friendly bats, evil rats, and human beings who have adapted to the Underworld? If you want to be transported to another world, read Gregor the Overlander, one of this year's Maud Hart Lovelace nominees. Gregor is a normal kid who follows his 2-year-old sister down a vent in his New York City laundry room. They fall and fall until they end up in the Underworld and are escorted to the royal city by crawlers (giant cockroaches). It turns out that Gregor has a mighty prophecy to fulfill, and he will have to lead a team of Underlanders to rescue his father. Full of action and all the enchantment of an imaginative fantasy world, fantasy readers will LOVE this book and want to read all the sequels. Even if you don't usually like fantasy, give this one a try. It's not always my favorite thing, but this is one of those that will grab you and pull you into its world. It's a little bit like City of Ember, only much much stranger!