Just Finished Reading Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins

After thoroughly enjoying reading the Hunger Games young adult science fiction trilogy by Suzanne Collins, I had decided a few weeks ago to go back further in her writing history and tackle her five-part children's fantasy series, titled The Underland Chronicles.  I just finished book two, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, from 2004.  Gregor is the name of the series' protagonist, a boy living in poverty in New York City with his family: his mother, father, and two sisters, one of whom, the baby "Boots", has accompanied Gregor in his odysseys far down below ground among the huge talking rats, bats, spiders, cockroaches...and other creatures living there with descendants of the humans who first voyaged there some three centuries earlier.  In this story Gregor is taking Boots out to the park...all he has to do is divert his eyes for a couple of seconds and she's gone...taken underground by giant, protective cockroaches.  You see, they have a scroll, the Prophecy of Bane, which states that the babe's life is in danger from the villainous rats.  Gregor has no choice but to return to the scene of his previous adventure to rescue his beloved little sister...and then is informed that the "Bane" in the prophecy is a huge, evil white rat that he must seek out and destroy on his own.  And the story goes on with some good twists and turns...I liked it and felt that there was a message here regarding using compassion and discernment even in the midst of perilous combat situations.  The ending leaves no doubt that there will be a sequel...which Collins dutifully wrote and published the next year.  I'll soon be reading this next installment, titled Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods...a story which, like the first two, is predicated on a different prophecy of the Underland.  No, I'm not a kid but this series is working for me..,