by Monae R.

Normally I would ask, “Have you ever wanted to stay home from school for a few days and just sleep or read or play video games? To be able to do absolutely nothing, minding your own business in your home?” However, the world just went through that exact thing. Some of us had to work, some of us did not. Some of us sat and read books that whole time and some of us played outside and celebrated.

Remember being stuck in the house, unable to go to the store, unable to get groceries. Now go one step further and imagine you could not open your windows to see the outdoors; you could not listen to music, the radio, or TV. Imagine you could not go anywhere, see anyone, or entertain yourself at all. You could only sit and hide, reading or quietly playing cards, until your family came home, and even then, you still had to hide away from them while you ate.

The Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix has an entirely new feeling and meaning now that we have experienced something similar. There is not a global pandemic or plague, but instead, the government has made it illegal for folks to have more than two children. Our main character, Luke, is on a journey to change that. He has spent 13 years as an illegal third child.

Luke’s mother, his father, his two brothers, and their farm are all he has ever known. He could run and play at the farm without anyone seeing him, with the forest surrounding his house so he could feel the breeze on his face, watch the leave change colors in the fall, feel the rain falling as it watered the crops. His farm was soon taken away. With nowhere to hide and nothing to shelter him from view, he was forced back inside, into the attic, into the dark. This was the last straw for Luke and he couldn’t bear it anymore. He needed a friend.

We follow his feelings as a third child, the relationships he develops, and the danger he flees after close encounters with the population police. Read to find out if he succeeds in making all third children free. Can a third child survive in the world when all they had was a poor family’s farm and a book that explained nothing of the world outside the attic?

Start With Book 1: Among the Hidden (also available in e-book and e-audiobook formats)

Then continue with the rest of the series. Have you read them all?

Book 2: Among the Imposters

Book 3: Among the Betrayed

Book 4: Among the Barons

Book 5: Among the Brave

Book 6: Among the Enemy

Monae is a Children’s Instructor and Research Specialist at HCLS East Columbia Branch.