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Cover of The City Under Ground

The City Under Ground

Suzanne Martel (1975)

SubgenreHigh Fantasy
Age groupMiddle Grade 8-12
Content ratingPG
Pages180 (Quick Read (<250))
Setting
CSM age10
Goodreads3.67

Content levels

ViolenceMild
Sexual contentNone
LanguageNone

Trigger warnings

Not yet tagged

Protagonist archetypes

Coming-of-Age Protagonist

Synopsis

In the year 3000, Luke, who lives in an underground community beneath the former city of Montreal, ventures into the outer world and discovers that radiation damage has vanished, leaving it safe for people to re-inhabit. The underground city of Surréal was founded by survivors of the Great Destruction, survivors who had escaped the disaster by taking refuge in a geothermally powered facility under Montreal's Mount Royal. As far as the founders knew they were the only humans left on Earth. By the year 3000, no visitor from outside Surréal has appeared to contradict this belief. Indeed, so convinced are the inhabitants that the surface of Earth is still uninhabitable that nobody has checked conditions outside for centuries. A small earthquake changes everything.

Is The City Under Ground appropriate for my child?

Suitable for most readers 10 and up.

A classic middle grade adventure about a boy exploring the surface world after centuries underground. Mild peril and discovery themes with no mature content.

What to know going in

This book has mild violence, no sexual content, and clean language.

Who'll love this

Readers will love following Luke as he discovers what happened to Earth and whether humanity can return to the surface.

Tags

Post-ApocalypticSurvival FictionDystopianScience Fiction Elements