Among the Hidden - Book Review

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Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Among the Hidden. New York: Simon & Schuster  for Young Readers, 1998. Print.

“I will never be allowed outside again.  Maybe never again as long as I live.”  I’m not a person who spends most of their time outside, but this was something that instantly made me wonder what could have caused this to happen.  As I found out, Luke Garner is an illegal third in a country that only allows two children per family.  He lives in constant hiding in his attic with nothing to do except to fear the Population Police that kill any third child, just for being alive, and also severely punish the family.  He hides in the attic with no hope in what his life will become, until he sees a flicker of movement in a house next door, when everyone is supposed to be gone.  Suddenly, Luke has hope that there are other kids like him, that he is not alone.  Eventually, when no one is around, he works up the courage to sneak into the house and finds...a girl.  He finds out that she is another third child setting up a revolution for third children to rebel against the government.  Suddenly Luke is caught up in a world that much bigger than he ever imagined, with fake ID cards and double agents.  They realize that to complete their goal, they will have to overcome impossible odds...and then some.

This book was a great read for me.  Initially, I only read this because I had to for school, but I was instantly hooked.  This book is actually the first book in a series called “Shadow Children.”  This is a great series about overcoming obstacles and trusting other people.  They are not long books, but there are enough in the series that you will be occupied with these books for a while.  I’m really not someone who enjoys dark plots, but there is  this is a story that I thoroughly enjoyed.  I would recommend this to students looking for a series of shorter realistic fiction books.  One thing that  Margaret Peterson Haddix does well, especially in this series, is taking an extreme circumstance and making it into something you can relate to.  She is a great author, and this is a great book and series to get into.