“Among the Hidden:Shadow Children Book 1″ by Margaret Haddix

Grade Level: 4-5 | AR Points: 5.0

Among the Hidden - Margaret Haddix

Imagine a society so overpopulated that the law limits families to only two children. Imagine you are a third child, one who must be hidden or face death by the Population Police. You can never go to school, never get a job, never go outside where you may be seen. You are a shadow child, but are you all alone?

Luke is a shadow child who must live in hiding on his family’s farm.  But, now the Government has forced his family to sell the woods by their farm to build housing.  Now, Luke is unable to even go out into his yard.  Since the houses are so close now, he can’t even go into rooms with window lest people become suspicious when the shades are drawn.

One day, however, Luke is sneaking a peek after everyone goes to work and sees another face in one of the new houses.  He can’t believe that there is another shadow child living so close and risks his life and his family’s lives to meet her.  Jennifer is the illegal child of an official with the Population Police.  However, instead of content with hiding, she is organizing a protest with other shadow children and urges Luke to participate.

This book starts out slowly, making the reader very well aware of the bleakness of Luke’s situation.  She does a magnificent job of putting the reader into the story.  The storyline picks up with Luke and Jennifer getting together and the reader is challenged to try to decide whether the population crisis is really as bad as the Government says, or if it is just a matter of control.

This is a book that both children and parents can enjoy separately or together.  It can be a great discussion starter in the home and classroom.

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