Among the Hidden

Margaret Peterson Haddix

Jun 2002 · Shadow Children Book 1 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke, an illegal third child, has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm in this start to the Shadow Children series from Margaret Peterson Haddix.

Luke has never been to school. He's never had a birthday party, or gone to a friend's house for an overnight. In fact, Luke has never had a friend.

Luke is one of the shadow children, a third child forbidden by the Population Police. He's lived his entire life in hiding, and now, with a new housing development replacing the woods next to his family's farm, he is no longer even allowed to go outside.

Then, one day Luke sees a girl's face in the window of a house where he knows two other children already live. Finally, he's met a shadow child like himself. Jen is willing to risk everything to come out of the shadows—does Luke dare to become involved in her dangerous plan? Can he afford not to?

Ratings and reviews

This book presents itself in such a simple way it hurts. The writing is far too simplistic for anyone above Elementary school. The ideas and themes are barely elaborated on, it can be summed up to "the famine was the governments fault, overpopulation is bad, the government is stupid". The themes are also so extreme that they are unrealistic, the Author could have toned it down a bit.

This book is about a boy named Luke who must stay in the attic at all times. He can no longer eat dinner at the table with his parents and brothers. There is a law that only allows two children. Luke is considered one of the shadow children. If the government finds out that there is a third child, they will send the population police after him. This book shows social justice because it is a realistic story of what could happen in our country with the population getting so large. Other countries like China have a ban on the number of children a family can have. This book talks about government control, oppression, friendship and the willingness to fight for your rights.

Among the Hidden, by Margaret Peterson Haddix. 186 pages. This is the first in a very long series of science fiction books. Set in the future, the government does not permit families to have more than one child; extras will be sought out and executed. Thus, guess who is among the hidden? Yes! Out comes our protagonist, who meets a girl next door who is also in hiding, but connected vis a vis the internet with others in hiding. When they decide to make a revolt en masse, the boy stays home; the girl gets butchered by the government. He gets a new identification, and heads off to a boys’ school in the second book of the series. I enjoyed this book, and so would middle school kids. I gave this a Three and one-half star rating ***+

About the author

Margaret Peterson Haddix is the author of many critically and popularly acclaimed YA and middle grade novels, including the Children of Exile series, The Missing series, the Under Their Skin series, and the Shadow Children series. A graduate of Miami University (of Ohio), she worked for several years as a reporter for The Indianapolis News. She also taught at the Danville (Illinois) Area Community College. She lives with her family in Columbus, Ohio. Visit her at HaddixBooks.com.