Among the Hidden is part of the Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix. This dystopian novel is set in rural Oklahoma in a time when the government tries to regulate overpopulation by enforcing a law that families are not allowed to have more than two children. Luke, the protagonist in this novel, is the third child in his family. While his older brothers Matthew and Mark are allowed to go outside, he has to hide inside the attic of the house and can only come down for meals with the family when the blinds are drawn. This means that Luke does not know anyone outside his family, cannot go to school or make friends. Basically, he cannot do anything that other kids do. When new houses are built within sight of the family's house, Luke follows the building process as well as the new neighbors' lives by watching them through an air vent in the attic. One day, Luke sees a girl's face in a house where the parents and their two children have just left. Apparently, there are other third children. Eventually, he decides to find out about her and sneaks over to her house. What will happen once they meet? Will Luke finally be able to live a less isolated life?

I breezed through this novel as it does not have that many pages and is an easy read. It has everything a dystopian novel needs and the small set of characters works well to give an impression of the society and to create suspense. The plot fell somewhat short of my expectations, though, as it is pretty linear and the ending, while it was not necessarily to be expected, is also not earth-shaking. What the ending succeeds in, however, is to make you want to continue the series. Maybe the first two novels could have been combined to make one. As I have not read the second novel yet (and am still not decided on whether I will), I cannot really say. 3 stars for this one. ( )

Adversity

Luke is a forbidden third child who lives on a remote farm and only ventures outside when his parents are sure no-one is around because of the Population police. But times are tough and the land next to the farm becomes a housing development, so Luke must now stay inside all day, bored out of his brain. One day, while looking out of the window he sees a girl's face in the window of a new development house where he knows 2 children live who have gone off to school. He decides to investigate the other "shadow child" but will this lead to danger for himself and his family?

I remember reading this as a kid and loving it. It's just as good as I remember!

Luke is a "shadow child," a third child forbidden by the government. He's spent his entire life in hiding, only meeting his parents and two older brothers. One day, he sees the face of a girl in the window of a house where he knows two boys already live, and takes the risk of leaving his house to meet her. Jen wants to take on the government, demand that they recognize third children, and wants Luke to join her.

The book is thought-provoking, suspenseful, and just the right length! ( )