Among the Hidden

By 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?

Well, this book has been out a while and it’s one of those I kept meaning to read. I found that it is very much in the Dystopian style that is now prevalent everywhere (and frankly I’m starting to tire of) but this is geared toward younger kids, with the short span of the book. But don’t let that fool you, this book is written in top-form, it’s not only good for younger kids, I was engrossed and I’m in college. It’s a great premise. Nobody is allowed to have more than 2 kids, and yet there is an underground group of children who are all the 3^rd child, or shadow children who have to decide if they stay in the shadows or come out into the light. It’s great in a terrible way. The writing reminded me a lot of Lois Lowry’s The Giver. It had the same sort of feel to it, just a little dimmed down because it is meant for a little lower reading level.

I give it a 4 out of 5

Double Identity

By Margaret Peterson Haddix


As Bethany approaches her thirteenth birthday, her parents act more oddly than usual: Her mother cries constantly, and her father barely lets Bethany out of his sight. Then one morning he hustles the entire family into the car, drives across several state lines—and leaves Bethany with an aunt she never knew existed. Bethany has no idea what’s going on. She’s worried her mom and dad are running from some kinds of trouble, but she can’t find out because they won’t tell her where they are going.
Bethany’s only clue is a few words she overheard her father tell her aunt: “She doesn’t know anything about Elizabeth.”


Margaret Peterson Haddix is an author I haven't read much of, so I saw this one and decided to give it a try. It was interesting, but sadly it was pretty obvious what was going on and I figured out the whole story simply by reading the summary. I didn't put the whole summary up top because it tells the entire plot and outlines the book. So, if you do read this, DO NOT read the summary on the back. I myself could never not read summaries, but try not to if you want to be at all surprised. Pretty run of the mill when all is said and done.