I made the mistake of letting my aunt with Alzheimer's read the book. It is recommended for children 9-11, though not every child will be emotionally mature enough for this story line.

It's a bit of a 'heavy' read, not at all light-hearted. (My 11 year old son likes it and that says something.) It is a fast read and though the setting is definitely not suburban America, the characters are relatable. Please note that it is KEY to the plot to read these books in order, as where each book ends the next book begins.Īmong the Hidden is the first of the Shadow Children books. a friend that will change his life forever. Could it be? Could it actually be another third child like himself? Luke must find out and soon meets daring, adventurous Jen Talbot. Then he sees a fifth face in the window of one of the houses. He knows that each house can have no more than four people living in them: a father, a mother, two children. He takes to looking out a small window in his attic at all the houses and their people. When the government takes away the forest that surrounds his house, cuts down all the trees, and builds dozons of new houses, Luke must remain in his attic bedroom for what seems like is going to be the rest of his life! So he hides on his family's farm in constant fear that someday, someone will find him. By law he should never have been born, by law he should be dead. In this futuristic dystopia, Haddix explores the consequences of population control and other policies of a totalitarian government on individuals living in that society, and she explores how far an individual will go to have a life that is worth living.Luke has two older brothers, Matthew and Mark, which makes him a third child, which also makes him illegal. As Luke's friendship with Jen grows, he learns that she is organizing the hidden children to protest against the government's oppressive laws, and he must decide whether to defy the government and seek freedom. When he discovers another third child, Jennifer Rose Talbot, also hiding in his neighborhood, he dares to venture outside his attic-hiding place and thus discovers a network of hidden children who communicate via Internet chat rooms. Because his parents broke the population laws when they let him live, Luke must stay hidden in his house, has never been to school, must eat in the attic stairwell to avoid being seen, and must spend his days with nothing to do except re-read a few old books and observe his neighborhood through the attic air vents. Luke, a third child, lives in a future where each family is allowed to have only two children. Among the Hidden is a thought-provoking story set in of the not too distant future that explores the choices and challenges faced by an early adolescent boy as he struggles to find his place in a world in which his existence is illegal.

Margaret haddix among the hidden