Among the Hidden

📘 About This Book

In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke, an illegal third child, has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm in this start to the Shadow Children series from Margaret Peterson Haddix. Luke has never been to school. He's never had a birthday party, or gone to a friend's house for an overnight. In fact, Luke has never had a friend. Luke is one of the shadow children, a third child forbidden by the Population Police. He's lived his entire life in hiding, and now, with a new housing development replacing the woods next to his family's farm, he is no longer even allowed to go outside. Then, one day Luke sees a girl's face in the window of a house where he knows two other children already live. Finally, he's met a shadow child like himself. Jen is willing to risk everything to come out of the shadows—does Luke dare to become involved in her dangerous plan? Can he afford not to?

📖 Summary

Margaret Peterson Haddix opens the door to a chilling dystopian world in Among the Hidden, the riveting first installment of the Shadow Children series. Set in a future society heavily constrained by government control, the story revolves around a draconian law known as the Population Police, which strictly limits every family to a maximum of two children. For twelve-year-old Luke Garner, this law dictates every waking moment of his existence. As an illegal third child, Luke is a shadow child, forced to live in absolute secrecy and isolation on his family farm. He has never attended school, celebrated a birthday party with peers, or experienced the simple joy of visiting a friend's house. His entire life has been defined by fear, confinement, and the constant threat of discovery. Luke's world becomes even smaller when a sprawling new housing development replaces the beloved woods that once bordered his family's property. With construction crews and new neighbors moving in right next door, Luke is stripped of even his rare, stolen glimpses of the outdoors. Confined indoors, he must peer through vents and cracks in the blinds just to watch the outside world move on without him. But isolation breeds curiosity and desperate hope. One fateful day, while looking out a window, Luke catches a glimpse of a face belonging to a girl in a neighboring house—a home where he already knows two children live. This startling discovery shatters the boundaries of his lonely universe, offering the tantalizing possibility that he is not entirely alone. As Luke navigates the perils of his hidden existence, this single encounter sets off a chain of events that challenges everything he knows about survival, courage, and the fundamental right to exist. Haddix crafts a compelling narrative that examines the weight of oppression, the resilience of the human spirit, and the desperate lengths to which families will go to protect one another in the face of overwhelming adversity.

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