Shadow Children Series by Margaret Peterson Haddix

    First of all, having read the entire series of this young adult phenomenon, I could simply not find it in my soul to seperate them in the reviews.  Trust me when I say you will find it impossible to seperate one from the other once you have begun.  The good news, they are fast reads so it will not consume too much of your time to read the entire thing from start to finish.  How many books are we truly talking about, anyway? Let me introduce you to your new favorite young adult series:
Among the Hidden
Among the Imposters
Among the Betrayed
Among the Barons
Among the Brave
Among the Enemy
Among the Free
    This series fell into my hands in pieces.  First, the original book was offered by Scholastic for only $1 a few years back.  I purchased 8 copies of the book, always eager to find good deals on books and always trusting Scholastic's judgement.  The book was, in a word, remarkable.  The idea behind this story is that in a country who has similarities to our own, after a food shortage, the government declares it illegal for a family to have more than two children.  The story follows Luke, a third child born to a quiet farming family, who doesn't understand the magnitude of his very existence.
     I never knew the remaining six books in the series existed. You see, the first book ends in such a way that you almost imagine what may happen later.  I was unaware that Ms. Haddix had made it unnecessary for me to imagine.  However, I assigned the book that first year it hit my shelves to a group of 8 boys who declared they "hated reading".  My philosophy is that all children who don't like to read simply haven't found that book yet. It's out there, I often tell my class, waiting to grab your attention and hook you on reading, you just have to be willing to continue searching.  It is always my goal to have each and every student in my class be able to answer the question "what is your favorite book?" by the end of the year. I'm proud to say 5 of those 8 listed "Among the Hidden" when asked that question.  In other words, it was a hit.  I continued to use it year-after-year.
      Fast forward to this year.  Another young almost-reader struggling to find his book finds it again in Among the Hidden.  His mother, grateful, promptly purchased a classroom set of all 7 books for my shelf.  I was shocked, remember, I didn't know they existed.  Hence how I came to read the entire series from start to finish and sit here writing this (incredibly wordy, my apologies) review.
      This is a rare series.  Once I hit the 3rd book I noticed something odd was happening, each of these books was better than the last.  That is not a typo, although those of you familiar with most series will understand how rare that truly is.  The books simply kept getting more intense, more agressive, and more poignant as they moved toward a strong stand against government corruption and the idea that power corrupts.
       I was almost afraid to begin "Among the Free".  Although the name implies it will end well for Luke and his friends, I was terrified with how it would be accomplished.  The cover simply stated "fans of the series will not be dissapointed" and I cannot agree more.  Haddix did not fall into the typical series endings. She chose to end on a beautiful note, one that would probably not work for any other series.  Instead of ending her series with a happily-ever-after, Haddix stretched out infinite possibility and imagination.  You'll have to read the series to see why this is effective.
        All in all, I'm so very grateful that I have this amazing series in my classroom.  There is a waiting list 4 preteens deep to check them out of my classroom shelves, and they are being returned to rave reviews.  As a class we highly agree this series deserved 5 huge smiles, and the kids claim I also need to include a tear for at least one spot in the series where "even you must have almost cried".  Highly recommended from our classroom to yours!