Fiction, Fantasy, and YA Book Review: AMONG THE HIDDEN

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Haddix, Margaret Peterson. 1998. AMONG THE HIDDEN. New York: Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing. ISBN: 0689824750

2. PLOT SUMMARY
In the first novel from the SHADOW CHILDRENS SERIES, AMONG THE HIDDEN, shares the story of Luke Garner. He is the youngest of three boys and lives on a farm with his mother and father. Normally being the youngest of three wouldn’t be a big deal, but in the world Luke Garner lives in, it is the difference between living a life of freedom and one of seclusion.

In Luke’s world, which is set sometime in the future, the government has complete and total power. One of the laws the government created was to limited people to only having two children per family and people who are found to have a third child will suffer dyer consequences from the Population Police. Knowing this Luke’s parents do everything they can to hide him from the outside world. Luke, who is eleven years old, is not allowed to go to school or leave this family’s heavily wooded property. However, when the government decides to take his family’s property to build houses for barons, wealthily individuals and their families, Luke has to go into hiding and is kept in his room and out of site at all times.

When Luke yearning for the outside world get the better of him, he takes to spying on the barons houses from an air conditioner vent in his room. Then one day to his surprise his, after everyone is the baron neighborhood has left for work, he notices that someone is moving around in one of the baron’s homes which turn out to be another third child. Though several exciting chapters, readers find Luke meeting Jen, the third child who lives in the baron’s house. She introduces him to a new way of thinking about himself and the government, and mostly importantly lets him know that he isn’t the only third child in the world. Together they join forces to try and gain rights for third children everywhere, but when a horrible event occurs, Luke is faced with a most difficult decision that will change life as he knows it forever.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Margaret Peterson Haddix writes a wonderful science fiction novel which relies on two basic motifs in the fantasy world: good versus evil and heroism. Luke, the main protagonist, is written as a child, though suffering through extraordinary circumstances, has qualities most readers can relate to. Most readers can easily identify with his feelings of loneliness, discord with older siblings, wanting to be like everyone else, and his efforts to please his parents. The government, which created the Population Police and the two child law, is clearly the evil force driving this story with the very head strong Jen and unlikely Luke has the heroes in the story. When Jen dies, Luke is forced to make the tough decision to assume the identity of a baron’s child to protect Jen’s and his family from the Population Police. In making that decision he also decides to try and help other third children come out from the shadows and be heard. Though this ending is bittersweet, Haddix captures sadness, adventure, and bravery in this tale that will leave readers seeking the next book in the series to find out what happens to Luke and other third children like himself.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL review: “Readers will be captivated by Luke's predicament and his reactions to it.”

KIRKUS review: “A chilling and intelligent novel.”

5. CONNECTIONS
*Research countries that have restrictions on the number of children people can have and the reasons their country has gone to such drastic measures.
*Read the other books in the SHADOW CHILDREN SERIES to follow the adventures of Luke AKA Lee Grant to see if he is able to make a difference for other third children.
*To make children be able to relate to Luke’s situation, set up your class like the society that Luke and his family live in. Assign children parts in the community such as barons, farmers, government officials and population police. Create challenges/situations the students must face and then as a class discuss how it felt to live in Luke’s world.

*Other SHADOW CHILDREN SERIES NOVELS
* Haddix, Margaret Peterson. AMONG THE IMPOSTERS. ISBN: 9780689839085
* Haddix, Margaret Peterson. AMONG THE BETRAYED. ISBN: 9780689839092
* Haddix, Margaret Peterson. AMONG THE BARONS. ISBN: 9780689839108
* Haddix, Margaret Peterson. AMONG THE BRAVE. ISBN: 9780689857959
* Haddix, Margaret Peterson. AMONG THE EMENY. ISBN: 9780689857973
* Haddix, Margaret Peterson. AMONG THE FREE. ISBN: 9780689857997