Among the Hidden - Margaret Peterson Haddix

No one had ever told him exactly what would happen if anyone saw him. 

Death? Death was what happened to the runt pigs 

who got stepped on by their stronger brothers and sisters. 

Death was a fly that stopped buzzing when the swatter hit it. 

- pages 3 & 4

I never was much of a fantasy/science-fiction reader growing up, but reading a few fantasy and/or science-fiction books for this class has made me have a new found appreciation for the genre. This book is no exception. I love when I am able to have a concrete setting of the book in my mind, which means Margaret Peterson Haddix did an incredible job in her descriptions of what life in the woods was like. In my mind, the houses inhabited by Luke and Jen looked like this...

What I imagined Luke's house to look like

What I imagined Jen's house to look like

The book is set in a society that seems to be a possible one in the future, and it begins describing the everyday life of Luke, a 3rd child in a society that forbids parents from having more than 2 children. He is required to hide at all times. He cannot go out in public, cannot go to school, or do any of the things that his brothers do. This is all before the woods are taken down to make room for the "Barons" to move in - rich and wealthy families. When they move in, Luke is more confined, in an effort from his parents to make sure they aren't caught by the Population Police. Then, one day, Luke sees a suspicious light and movement in a house outside of his window when he knows all of the family members (4) are gone. He then realizes that there is another 3rd child. One day, he sneaks over and discovers Jen, a rambunctious, courageous, fearless "shadow child." She is in the midst of helping facilitate a rally against the government, which she encourages Luke to come to. She introduces him to the world, to history, to junk food, to "freedom." When she leaves for the rally, she encourages Luke to come, but he is too scared. He doesn't hear from her for 3 weeks and fearing the worst, heads to her house. Her father comes home, discovers Luke, and tells him that Jen has been killed. However, her father, despite a break-in from the Population Police, vows to keep Luke safe and help him get false identification. Him receiving his fake ID and heading off to boarding school as someone else is where we leave him at the end of the book, which is a series. 

Once I have time again, I'm definitely planning on reading the rest of the series, as I found this book incredibly interesting. There are six other novels in the series, which is named, appropriately, "The Shadow Children" series. I'm interested to see the other places that Margaret Peterson Haddix takes Luke and what other kinds of people he will interact with in the rest of the series. I'm also interested to see if characters like his mother, father, and brothers will return later on, or if his mother will complete her dream of having four boys named Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John by having another shadow child.
This book has the potential to bring up a lot of interesting issues in classrooms, and I think would be an ideal way to discuss different types of government in upper elementary grades. It's also simply a great thought-provoking book that has potential to make children question the norm and be more curious about the world. It brings up many of the same issues that books like The Giver does, but in a less overt way. The suspense in this book would also make it a great read-aloud, and I know that children would anxiously await the time of the day when the book was read. Isn't that what we want as teachers?