Book Review: Big Issues in a Mid-Level Book

Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This first in the Shadow Children series would have been better if it had not intended to stand alone, unlike the satisfying "the story is just beginning" conclusion to Lois Lowry's The Giver, so it may be fortunate that Haddix has since written six further novels in this dystopic world. Reviewing it now, without having read the rest of the series, feels like reviewing just the first third of a book.

The suspense is bit heavy-handed, which may forgivable since little action can happen in a novel establishing the premise of Shadow Children. Luke is an illegal third child and must stay hidden at all times; most of the book is about the tension between frustration at his confinement and fear for his survival. Within that limitation, Haddix manages to keep the story moving and this reader interested, but the climax lacks the emotional reward of a stand-alone novel.

Like many dystopic novels, Among the Hidden assumes knowledge of current culture and politics which will challenge some ELL readers more, but the vocabulary and grammar are otherwise appropriate for advanced ELLs. In fact, the characters themselves struggle with new words and concepts in a way that some may greet with relieved sympathy.



View all my reviews