Speculative Fiction

Unbelievably Believable!

Among the Hidden

Margaret Peterson Haddix

               The Population Police are lurking, they must stay hidden. Luke, the main character, lives with his mother, father, and brothers, Matthew and Mark who are older. They live on a pig farm and their land is being taken to build homes for the Barons. The story is set in the future when food had become scarce, causing the government to create a law that limited families to two children. Luke being the third child cannot attend school and must live in the attic. Since the recent development to their land, Luke can no longer play hidden in their woods. His family makes him eat dinner in the stairway so no one sees him. Life for Luke went from bad to worse. Luke finds he can look out the vents in the attic and watches all the coming and going of the new families. He sees what he thinks is a third child home alone. One day he is brave enough to run over to the home and meets Jenny. She is a third child of a baron and even uses the internet. She tells him her plan to go to the Capitol and protest along with others. When Jenny doesn’t return, he goes to the house and sets off the alarm. Her stepfather comes home, and Luke finds out that the Population Police killed Jenny. Jenny’s father also works for the P.P., ends up getting him a fake I.D. as now he is no longer safe in his home. The story ends as Luke leaves his family for a new life. This leaves the reader wondering what will happen to Luke. Luckily this is the first book in a series that I am sure all readers will find themselves moving through.

BIBLIO: 1998, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Ages 10 to 14, $7.99.

REVIEWER: Jennifer Debo

FORMAT: Chapter book

ISBN: 978-0-689-82475-3


How does a Speculative fiction story compare to a movie in the same genre? Let's take a look!

To compare a speculative fiction story Among the Hidden (dystopia) I chose the move Twilight (fantasy). I had watched all of the Twilight movies when they first came out. I really had no interest in the series but my mother-in-law insisted I watch it and went on to watch all of them. I had to watch the movie again as they all jumbled together. The only thing I could say that both Twilight and Among the Hidden share is that both main characters are being “hunted.” Belle is hunted by Victoria and James the human-eating vampires, while Luke is trying to avoid the population police. There are many more differences especially with the characters and setting. Belle is a teenage female, where Luke is a 12-13 year old boy. Belle is living in present times in the state of Washington whereas Luke seems to live in the future, possibly in the U.S. as it mentions traveling to the Capitol. Belle falls in love with Edward which puts her in danger from the other vampires. Luke is desperate to find a friend and learns Jenny is also a forbidden third child hiding next door. Jenny brings danger to Luke when he goes looking for her after her plan to protest at the Capitol. Her father helps him hide and gets him a fake I.D. when the population police come to get him. In both Twilight and Among the Hidden, the protagonists in each find someone new that becomes important to them that in turn brings on extreme danger and requires them to eventually leave their families behind. In this genre almost anything the mind can imagine is possible. Both stories seem as if they could happen, Among the Hidden would seem realistically possible to a wider audience.

Haddix, M. P. (2001). Among the hidden. London: Red Fox.

Hardwicke, C. (Director). (2008). Twilight {Motion Picture on DVD]. United States: Paramount home entertainment.