Best known for her incredible page-turning Hunger Games series, Suzanne Collins has also written one of my favourite middle grade series – The Underland Chronicles. This lesser-known gem follows Gregor, 11-year-old son of a single mother, who follows his two-year-old sister Boots when she is sucked into a laundry vent. In the dark Underland beneath New York City, they find a hidden society, whose prophesy foretells a role for Gregor in securing their future.

Gregor is one of my favourite middle grade characters and this book is everything you’d expect from Suzanne Collins – it’s fast-paced, exciting, heart-wrenching, heart-warming with plenty of colourful characters and loads of surprises. It’s a real joy, and if grown-ups don’t read it aloud to their kids, they should consider borrowing it after they’ve finished – it’s brilliant.