Book Recommendation: "Among the Hidden"

One of our family's New Year's resolutions was to spend more time reading aloud to each other after supper. We just finished reading Margaret Peterson Haddix's Among the Hidden (Aladdin, 1998). This is a really compelling story. The children (not to mention the adults) were hooked.

Among the Hidden is set in a future totalitarian society which was undergone famine and civil unrest leading to an authoritarian government. Families are limited to two children and the law is ruthlessly enforced by the Population Police. The main character is a boy named Luke who is a "third child" forced to live in hiding. Not only is it a great story, but it got our family talking about things like government, citizenship, freedom, etc.

The book is the first in Haddix's seven part "Shadow Children Series." Next up: Among the Imposters.

JTR