Among the Hidden

Haddix, M. ( 1998). Among the Hidden. Simon &Schuster, New York, NY. ISBN: 0-689-81700-2

Luke was used to his parents hiding his plates and chair at the dinner table whenever there was an outside visitor. Other than this odd behavior within his family’s household, Luke lived a semi normal life. Luke knew he was different. Luke was not allowed to attend school like his other brothers. Luke was not supposed to exist. Luke was a third child. But who knew about Luke? Were there other children out in town or other towns like Luke, forbidden?

Luke might never have had a chance to answer that question if his family’s life hadn’t changed due to the government purchasing their land to create new homes. Luke, now forbidden to the attic in the house, may never feel the breeze of the outside air again, may never be able to roam free throughout the house. He may not even ever sit at the dinner table with his family again. Luke had to stay hidden His parents claim they are doing this solely to protect his life. “The Population Law hadn’t been around long, then, and I had always wanted lots of kids. I thought the Government would get over their foolishness, maybe even by the time you were born,” (p.10). Therefore Luke became a ‘shadow child.’

 However, “When the boy secretly ventures outside the attic and meets the girl in the neighboring house, he learns that expressing divergent opinions openly can lead to tragedy.” (Rogers, p. 203). Jennifer, a third child neighbor, introduces Luke to literature and ideas that parallel many ideas in today’s world. Haddix uses the secret lives of families with a third child as a political parallel to other ideas such as same-sex marriages, or even as far back as segregation. “Hundreds of us-all the shadow children I could track down- are going to march on the Government in protest. We’ll go right to the president’s house. We won’t leave them alone until they give us the same rights everybody else has,” (p. 81). The major theme Haddix brings to mind is equality.

Margaret Peterson Haddix accomplishes to write another thriller that keeps the readers wanting more. “This futuristic novel focuses on totalitarian regime and the internet.” (Publishers Weekly, p 87). In this community, families cannot give birth to more than two children. They spend so much time and effort making sure the law is followed, they even have created new law enforcement, The Population Police. Among the Hidden is a suspenseful science fiction novel that keeps you guessing as to what will happen when young, “shadow children” are on a mission to get equal rights. 

As Jennifer and Luke do in this novel, “Science fiction presents real heroes to readers who find their own world often devoid of anyone worth admiring, of heroes to readers who find their own world often devoid of anyone worth admiring,” (Nielson, p 234). Readers will find themselves wanting Jennifer to be successful and Luke to be more aggressive to a new world. Readers will tend to root for success in Jennifer’s mission to allow other shadow children to live freely in the United States. 

Rogers, Susan L.. School Library Journal, Sep98, Vol. 44 Issue 9, p203

Publishers Weekly, 02/07/2000, Vol. 247 Issue 6, p87

Nilsen, A. & Donelson, K.(2009). Literature for Today’s Young Adults. Boston, MA.