"Better than Harry Potter."

That is Madeline's opinion on the current book series we're both wrapped up in. I don't know if you remember, but Madeline had to be "grounded" from reading Harry Potter when she was in second grade because she couldn't pull her brain out of Hogwarts School enough to pay attention at Raleigh Park School. (She was relegated to reading HP only during school breaks).

I tell you that so you know that this current series has made an impact on her.

A few months ago I read the first two books from The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. I was hooked big time. It's another young adult fiction series, but is sooooo much better than the Twilight series. For one thing, the main character, Katniss, is such a strong, brave, powerful girl who is trying to protect her family and willing to fight against a corrupt system, as opposed to sulky, clumsy, helpless Bella in Twilight who is forever lying to her parents, needing a boyfriend to save her from herself, and willing to leave her family to follow her high school boyfriend forever. (Don't get me wrong, I liked Twilight as much as the next person, I just thought Bella was annoying.)

I know Madeline will love The Hunger Games, but I'm a little nervous that it might be too mature/intense for her quite yet. So for Christmas I bought her the first book in Suzanne Collins' other series for younger readers: Gregor the Overlander. It took a couple months for Madeline to get interested in it (she's not big on book suggestions from the mama), but when she finally picked it up she devoured it in a day or two and then demanded that I read it. I did. And then we immediately bought the next three books and went through them just as quickly. Madeline enjoyed them so much she couldn't understand why other kids didn't want to sit and listen to her read to them when they came over to our house to play. Ha. We are currently waiting for the last book in the series to arrive, and I'm already feeling sad that we'll be saying goodbye to these characters in just a few hundred pages.

I don't want to tell you anything about the books except that it's set in a world under Manhattan. But if your kids are looking for a good book to read, pick up The Underland Chronicles. (And you should probably read them too if you've already read The Hunger Games and are feeling lost waiting for the next book to come out.)