Among the Hidden (1) (Shadow Children)

Book was great i dropped a few tears and laughed a lot. i hate that it ends in a cliffhanger though!

I've read a lot of other books by Margaret Peterson Haddix, including "Palace of Mirrors," "Double Identity," and "Under Their Skin," and they were all good. So I expected this to be good and it was. Her books are really suspenseful, and usually mysteries.This book is about 12 year old Luke, who lives in a time when the Population Police will only let people have 1 or 2 kids. He's a third child. He has stayed hidden his whole life, and even his aunts and grandparents don't know about him. He never complained because he's a really nice boy, but it all changes when he meets another third child, a 13 year old named Jen. He never really knew if there were other shadow children, or if he was the only one whose parents broke that law.It's so hard to picture a person who has literally never left their house, never been in a car, never met anyone outside his immediate family, never been to school, never had a birthday party, never watched tv, never been on a computer, never had a pet, never had a friend, and has never even played on the side of the house that faces the road. But that's Luke.It's a great book and I can hardly wait to get the rest of the series, my only struggle is wondering what I'll read until I can get the next one, lol. I'm a 13 year old girl and liked this book so I'd recommend it to anyone near that age boy or girl. If you like this book then you'll also like "Wake Up Missing" by Kate Messner or the other books by Margaret Peterson Haddix that I mentioned earlier. I hoped this helped you in any way :)

I remembered liking this book series back in middle school, and it is still just as good 20 years later. I'm excited to continue reading the remaining books in the series.

in a sentence or so: living life in the shadows, fearful of a a secret that could ruin the family. in a world where the government says families can only have two children, Luke is a third child.living on a farm surrounded by woods has granted Luke more freedom than he would have had elsewhere. as long as he's careful, very careful, he is allowed to be outside on the farm. the world doesn't know he exists, but at least at home his mom, dad, and brothers Matthew and Mark know who he is. Luke knows he puts a strain on his family. being diligent about keeping him out of site from the neighbors and never letting anything slip is a heavy burden. the burden becomes almost unbearable when the government begins to tear down the woods to put in a new subdivision and Luke must be kept indoors and out of sight at all times.Luke is desperate for freedom. or even just something to do. while his family is at school or work, he is at home locked up in his attic bedroom. his stir-crazy is reaching desperate levels when one day, as he's peering through the air vent in the attic at the new subdivision for the wealthiest of the wealthy, he sees another face pass by a window of a house where two parents and two kids have already left for the day. he's not alone in being a secret third child.Luke braves the world outside, putting his own life and that of his family at risk, to try and meet this mystery child. the other hidden child. whatever Luke may have expected, it certainly wasn't Jen. spunky, snarky, know-it-all, spoiled Jen. she's set on organizing an uprising of the hidden children, and in between telling Luke what's what in the world, she's trying to convince him to join her in her march on the president's lawn.this is either an alternate reality or a peek into the future of the world we live in. the government has set a limit on two kiddos due to a food shortage that may or may not be the result of the totalitarian ruler merely exercising control over his people. since this is the first in a series, there was a lot of background on the government restrictions. let's just say, there are a LOT of things that the government says 'no' to.this read like a short story for me. the short little chapters kept propelling me along to find out more. we get a good insight into Luke's mind (it's written in third person, but objective and limited so we are very familiar with how Luke sees and feels the world around him and not much else) and how he comprehends, problem solves, and learns. things got real, however, with a dramatic twist and dystopian realism near the end. the ending was a bit of a cliffhanger, but not enough to have me rushing to get the next in the series asap.fave quote: "Just my luck, Luke thought. I finally meet another third child, and she's absolutely crazy." (83)fix er up: Luke was pretty bland. i mean, he was a secret child/momma's boy for his entire life...but i kept wanting more depth or development. perhaps that comes along later in the series.

12 yo likes

My kids 10 & 11 said they loved all of it ! ! ! On to book # 2 !

This was ordered as part of required school supplies. Works well.

I purchased this book for my son to read as part of his summer reading requirements and ended up reading it myself as well! I really liked the storyline and the book kept my interest so much that I finished it the same day I started it. I planned to just do a run through to get a basic idea so I could check my son's book report but can honestly say I an anticipating reading the next in the series. This book offers many different conflicts to get you thinking of the different outcomes. My son is heading into 6th grade and really enjoyed the book also. It offers a great lesson to children about being grateful for what they have and realizing others may not have the same things we tend to take for granite. I recommend this to both children and adults to enjoy.

Bought this to read to my class and they loved it! Will definitely invest in the other books in this series!

Der Teaser war im Englischbuch meines Sohnes. Hat mich sofort angesprochen und zunächst wollte ich nur einen Band lesen. Jedoch möchte man sehr schnell wissen, wie es für die Kinder ausgeht und sofort alle Bände nachgekauft.Man bekommt eine Ahnung vom Leben in Angst und im Versteck, von Hoffnungslosigkeit und dem Willen zu überleben. Diktatur im Land der unbegrenzten Möglichkeiten schien ja vor Trump ein Märchen zu sein. Wie nahe stand das Land vor dem Abgrund! Hier hätte man nachlesen können, wie es weitergeht, hätten die Trumpunterstützer das Kapitol tatsächlich gestürmt. Dabei ist das Buch schon viel länger auf dem Markt. Aber immer noch hochaktuell.Es ist für Leseanfänger empfohlen, jedoch halte ich das für deutlich untertrieben. Ich spreche C 1 und fand das Buch angemessen.Eine Rezensentin schrieb, dass jeder Band von einem anderen Kind handle. Dies ist falsch. Im Grunde fädelt sich die Geschichte um den Helden Luke, der nur in 2 Bänden nicht die Hauptrolle spielt. Die anderen Bände sind dazu da, weitere Schicksale staatlich ungewollter Kinder zu aufzuzeigen. Hier merkt man erst das Besondere an Luke, der lange eine Kindheit in relativer Freiheit genießen konnte. Im Gegensatz zu Kindern, die von Anfang an versteckt wurden und für ihr Leben gebrandmarkt sind.Spannend erzählt, logische Handlungen, politisch bildend. Eine glasklare Empfehlung auch für Erwachsene.

I love this story of a boy who must stay hidden in the shadows because his family already has the allowed number of children in this controlled society. I use this book heavily in my 7th grade dystopian class especially for reluctant readers because the story is compelling but also relatively short (compared to other massive dystopian books.) Also, kids get hooked on the series, yay!As an aside, the "new" copy of this book that was sent had yellowed pages and looked about 10 years old. Disappointing.

I first discovered this book when teaching Y7s in New Zealand and brought a copy back to the UK with me, read it to my old Y6 class who loved it and then to my current Y5s who got so into it many got it and the following books shipped in.Among the hidden is set in a political time when resources are supposedly so low that families are only allowed two children. Inevitably a race of hidden children develops.The story is based around a third child who knows he is different but it only the building of new houses at the back of his house that forces his family to hide him. hidden in his attic room he watches the comings and goings of the new families until one day he spots something at one of the houses.A must buy for any confident upper primary reader, Haddix books are great, check out running out of time.

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