Margaret Atwood's Among The Hidden
Among the Hidden is the book I read for this book report. It has 153 pages and it is fiction. The book takes place on a farm over a one-year time period from late summer to late spring. We don't know the exact year, but it is sometime in the future. It is here in the US, but it just doesn't seem like it could be since things happen in the book that just don't seem imaginable to us. The story is about a boy named Luke. He is a shadow child. A shadow child is a third (or even more) child in a family that must stay hidden because it was against the population law to have more than two children. The government thought there was too little food for everyone; therefore, they made this population law. If a third child was found, they would be shot
on the spot. This is why Luke stayed hidden in the attic; it was too dangerous to come out and risk being seen. Luke had two older brothers that got to go to school and play with their friends. He would watch them go off to school everyday through a vent in the attic. They made fun of Luke all the time, but he still loved them. Then one day as he was watching his brothers and everyone else in the neighborhood go off to school and work, he saw movement. It was in a house where the parents and two sons had already left for the day. After wondering for about a week what he should do, he finally decided to sneak over to the house. This is when he found Jen, another shadow child. After a lot of explaining and telling each other's stories, Luke and Jen became best friends. Since Jen's parents were Barons (Barons were very wealthy people), she had many things that Luke had never seen before. What I really liked about the book is how Luke risked everything to visit Jen. He knew that if anyone saw him that he would be killed. While visiting Jen one day, he learned of her plan to have a rally for the shadow children's rights. She thought it was cool to see how Luke reacted to all of the things she had. Luke had never eaten junk food, or watched TV, and he definitely didn't know what a computer was. His family was poor and did not have any of these luxuries. The lesson learned in this book is to fight for what you believe in and that everyone should be treated equally. Jen wanted equality for all the shadow children so much that she was willing to die for it. She and about 40 other shadow children marched onto the Capitol lawn to protest. After that, Luke never heard from her again. Luke couldn't stand it any longer; he had to know what happened to Jen. Luke snuck over to Jen's and broke in to send out a message on the computer to ask if anyone had heard from her. What Luke didn't know was that it sent a message to Jen's dad. He went to his house and found Luke there. He informed Luke that Jen had been shot along with all her friends while standing in front of the Capitol. No one ever knew, except her dad found out since he was the Population Police. This is when he offered Luke a way out. He could have a new identity and live as a normal child. This meant he would never see his family again. Luke knew though that this was the right thing to do. He knew that he had to carry on what Jen had started. How could he ever help other shadow children, when he was one himself? He wanted to make a difference.
on the spot. This is why Luke stayed hidden in the attic; it was too dangerous to come out and risk being seen. Luke had two older brothers that got to go to school and play with their friends. He would watch them go off to school everyday through a vent in the attic. They made fun of Luke all the time, but he still loved them. Then one day as he was watching his brothers and everyone else in the neighborhood go off to school and work, he saw movement. It was in a house where the parents and two sons had already left for the day. After wondering for about a week what he should do, he finally decided to sneak over to the house. This is when he found Jen, another shadow child. After a lot of explaining and telling each other's stories, Luke and Jen became best friends. Since Jen's parents were Barons (Barons were very wealthy people), she had many things that Luke had never seen before. What I really liked about the book is how Luke risked everything to visit Jen. He knew that if anyone saw him that he would be killed. While visiting Jen one day, he learned of her plan to have a rally for the shadow children's rights. She thought it was cool to see how Luke reacted to all of the things she had. Luke had never eaten junk food, or watched TV, and he definitely didn't know what a computer was. His family was poor and did not have any of these luxuries. The lesson learned in this book is to fight for what you believe in and that everyone should be treated equally. Jen wanted equality for all the shadow children so much that she was willing to die for it. She and about 40 other shadow children marched onto the Capitol lawn to protest. After that, Luke never heard from her again. Luke couldn't stand it any longer; he had to know what happened to Jen. Luke snuck over to Jen's and broke in to send out a message on the computer to ask if anyone had heard from her. What Luke didn't know was that it sent a message to Jen's dad. He went to his house and found Luke there. He informed Luke that Jen had been shot along with all her friends while standing in front of the Capitol. No one ever knew, except her dad found out since he was the Population Police. This is when he offered Luke a way out. He could have a new identity and live as a normal child. This meant he would never see his family again. Luke knew though that this was the right thing to do. He knew that he had to carry on what Jen had started. How could he ever help other shadow children, when he was one himself? He wanted to make a difference.