Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Premise: Luke has never been to school. He's never had a birthday party, or gone to a friend's house. Luke is one of the shadow children, a third child forbidden by the Population Police. He's lived his entire life in hiding, and now, with a new housing development replacing the woods next to his family's farm, he is no longer even allowed to go outside. The one day Luke sees a girl's face in the window of a house where he knows two other children already live. Finally, he's met a shadow child like himself. Jen is willing to risk everything to come out of the shadows--does Luke dare to become involved in her dangerous plan? (Amazon)

Title: Among the Hidden
Author: Margaret Peterson Haddix
Length: 153 pages
Genre: Science Fiction
Series or Stand Alone: Shadow Children
Content appropriate for: Grades 5-8

                                  4.5 stars

Three Adjectives: unique, thought-provoking, gripping

"Among the Hidden is just one of the books you have to read," my students said to me over and over again. This book had been gathering dust on my TBR pile for going on three years before I decided to read it. 

Now that I have completed it, I can see what all the buzz is about. Haddix is a master of world-building in science fiction novels. She truly takes her time to craft the structure of this futuristic world of control and constraint. I found myself questioning up until the end what Luke would do. Though this was mostly a character building and setting development piece, Haddix will keep you hanging on until the tragic end. Make sure you have the second book, Among the Betrayed on hand once you finish this one.