Among the Hidden- Margaret Peterson Haddix

Title: Among the Hidden
Author: Haddix, Margaret Peterson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1998
ISBN-13: 9780689824753

Genre: Drama, Mystery
Reading Level: 800 Lexile
Interest Level: 8+
Series: Shadow Children

Readers Annotation: Only two children are allowed in a household, but what happens if a third child comes along? Does the family kill the baby or do they hide the child?

Plot:
Luke has spent his whole life in hiding. He is the third child in a family and he is not supposed to exist. The Population Police will take him away and maybe even kill him if they find out he lives. He has been able to spend time outside even though he cannot leave his yard because there are woods around him. Now, a housing development is going to be built and he must stay in the house all the time. One day when he is looking out the small window wishing he could go outside he sees another face! There is another hidden child. She is blonde and beautiful. Luke is so excited that he wants to meet her badly. He has always followed the rules, but will he continue to even though things have changed?

Review:
This is the first book in a series called the Shadow Children. The children are not allowed to be and yet they are. This book is full of a need to find companionship and the nature of humans to want what they cannot have. The hidden children know the policies but do not understand why they are not allowed in the world. Families cannot bear to kill their children so as the series progresses there are many hidden children. This is an interesting concept and tweens still love reading them today.

Similar Materials:

The others in the series
Hoot- Carl Hiaasen
Fever 1793- Laurie Halse Anderson