Among the Hidden

Reviewed By Pablo C.

Margaret Peterson Haddix has started an intriguing sequence of books called the Shadow Children. The first book, Among the Hidden, is about a young boy named Luke Garner who is forced to live as a recluse because he is a third child. The thing about being a third child is that they are illegal in this dystopian society created by Margaret Haddix. This law is enforced by the population police, and it’s penalty, is death.

Luke, although completely terrified of the population police, has a thirst for adventure. He wants to go out and explore the world like the people in the books he read (the books that keep him entertained while locked up in the attic. His curiosity towards the outside world leads to him looking out of a small vent that he has in his room with a view of his whole neighborhood, where he analyzes all of his neighbors. Studying their homes and lifestyles, even though he doesn’t know their names. He fills this lack of information by calling the families by the attributes they consist of. A family that does sports everyday is the Sports Family, a family with a lot of birds is the Birdbrain Family, a family with all blond hair is the Gold Family, and so on. So after weeks of familiarizing himself with his neighbors, he sees something very odd in the Sports Family’s house. A child, in a house where two others, already live…

This is a start to a great series of books. If you’re looking to be entertained for a long time, I suggest you start with Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix.