Among the Hidden - Margaret Peterson Haddix

[goodreads]

Title: Among the Hidden
Author: Margaret Peterson Haddix
Genre: Dystopian
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 153
Date read: June, 2012

Luke has never been to school. He's never had a birthday party, or gone to a friend's house for an overnight. In fact, Luke has never had a friend.

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.

Then, 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? Can he afford "not" to?

I read about this book through a "25 Books/Series to read if you love The Hunger Games" list. It sounded fascinating, so I thought I'd give it a try.

It's... troubling. A lot darker than I had expected from a childrens book. A quick read and actually a rather thought-provoking one. In some ways it reminded me of Nancy Kress' Beggars in Spain - in atmosphere more than in plot though. I liked it very much, though I'm not sure I'll be reading the rest of the series. As far as I could tell they're more a series of companion novels than actual sequels, and I'm more interested in reading about a resolution than about other Shadow Children.

I might very well change my mind if this book ends up haunting my mind though.

Very well written and atmospheric.