Among the Hidden
Dear Ms. Monaco,
The book I chose to read for my letter essay was Among the Hidden by Margaret Petersen Haddix. It did not have a genre, exactly except for fiction. It was a very interesting book. It was about Luke, a 3rd child who had to hide from the government because there were laws against him being alive. But he meets another 3rd child who is rich and knows many other 3rd children. This book also reminded me of The Giver.
Luke is suppressed by a law created to prevent starvation, (which was believed to be a myth by some) but that caused many problems for Luke’s kind. This reminded me of The Giver because government decided to give up things for other, things. In this case, if there really was not famine and starvation, it was not a good choice to eliminate the possibility of starvation (which would probably not happen anyway) and pursue and kill all 3rd and 4th children that were born. It costs for them to hire population police, and the technology expenses for the soft and hardware to track the “shadow children”. Although, if there was starvation, the choice was okay, although there could be a ration system figured out instead of pursuing and killing 3rd and 4th children. Just like in The Giver, when the government made the decision for sameness. It could have been debated and decided against depending on the circumstances.
On the first page of the book, it said:
“He had never disobeyed the order to hide. Even as a toddler, barely able to walk in the backyard’s tall grass, he had somehow understood the fear in his mother’s voice. But on this day, the day they began taking the woods away, he hesitated. He took one last breath of fresh air, scented with clover and honeysuckle and- coming from far away- pine smoke. He laid his hoe down gently, and savored one last moment of feeling warm soil beneath his bare feet. He reminded himself ‘I will never be allowed outside again. Maybe never again as long as I live.’ He turned and walked into the house, as silently as a shadow.”
I think this quote shows how desperate he was for things we take for granted, like being outside. This is what is what happens when the Government does not make good decisions about things that impact the whole community. This also reminds me of The Giver, the government making decisions for the community to hurt or burden the community.
Halfway through the book, Luke is on his perch where he can see out but nobody can see in, and he sees a face in the window of the house next door, but it quickly went away. When Luke observed other strange things about the house, like lights on when the family was gone, so he built up the courage to go over and meet the other third child, Jen. She had a very interesting effect on his life. All without either of their families knowing, they secretly and regularly met and talked. She was way more risk-taking and outgoing than Luke. She gave him a different mindset. She organized a rebellion over the internet with other 3rd and 4th children. They drove to the white house themselves and rebelled but the 40 of them were shot and killed. Luke had decided not to go at the last second, and tried to persuade her not to go, too. Even though they were killed, Jen made and impact on the way he thought. When Luke was nearly caught at Jen’s house by the population police, He was given a fake ID. That changed him also, letting him know there was a way out, by being Lee Grant (his fake name). On page 153, it said:
“Luke stared back at his family’s farm as long as he could. He could see just the roof of Jen’s house beyond the sparse line of trees. And then, in no time at all, is seemed, everything familiar disappeared over the horizon. Lee Grant turned around to see what lied ahead.”
Margaret Peterson Haddix did a good job writing this book, including suspense and mystery, and also another way to see things. This book also contains a warning of what could happen if the government controls the population. I would rate this book 10 out of 10!
Your student,
Peter Dressel
