Among the Hidden (Shadow Children Books)

"Luke remembered how bored he'd felt before meeting Jen, how desperate he'd been to do something- anything!- besides read and daydream. He'd been so desperate that he'd risked his life for the chance of meeting another third child. Did he want to spend the rest of his life feeling that desperate? Did he want to just... waste it?" Luke Garner must eat his...more

"Luke remembered how bored he'd felt before meeting Jen, how desperate he'd been to do something- anything!- besides read and daydream. He'd been so desperate that he'd risked his life for the chance of meeting another third child. Did he want to spend the rest of his life feeling that desperate? Did he want to just... waste it?" Luke Garner must eat his dinner on the stairs, he is confined to the attic in his home, and is forbidden from going outside at all. He is a third child in a world where having three children is strictly prohibited. Due to food shortages and overpopulation, the Population Police strictly enforce a law that allows couples to have only two children. Peeking out of the vents in the attic one day, Luke sees the face of girl in the window of a neighbor's deserted home during the middle of the day, he suddenly realizes that he may not be the only third child out there. His secret friendship with Jen leads Luke to striking new discoveries, a heartbreaking loss, and a new understanding of how to create a future for himself in a world where he does not even exist. Will Luke have the courage to defy his birth order and make a mark in the world? This ALA Best Book for Young Adults is the first in a series by Margaret Peterson Haddix. If this book is an indication of what all the books in the Shadow Children series are like, I will happily pick up another and spend a rainy afternoon discovering what life would be like for children in hiding.   hide