First & Second Born Kids RULE!

I finished reading the “Shadow Children” series books by Margaret Peterson Haddix. The series consists of:

1. Among the Hidden
2. Among the Imposters
3. Among the Betrayed
4. Among the Barons
5. Among the Brave
6. Among The Enemy
7. Among the Free

The age level assigned for these books are 9-12 year olds; HOWEVER I found them riveting! I am not sure how high school students will feel about reading them because the books lack teenage angst but they are still really action packed books. They are fast-paced and emotional.

Basically, there is a tremendous famine in the United States so the U.S. government decides to regulate the population. They demand that people only have two kids at the very most and they have Population Police to make sure people follow the law. So the main character of the first book is named Luke and he is the third born in his family and is therefore illegal. It seems like a crazy idea…but that is how it is in China (I know, I digress). Anyway, Luke begins to realize in the first book how limited his life really is (living in the shadows/having to hide his existence) but then he manages to meet other shadow children!

The whole series takes on the difficult lives of the shadow children (told from varying character perspectives depending on the book) and their struggles to not only win their freedom, but also their struggles just to stay alive.