Engagement:
Genre:
Dystopian
Published:
1998
Page Count:
153
Where to Buy:
Among the Hidden
Shadow Children
#
1
Content Ratings
Moderate Themes
The novel explores a totalitarian population law, state-sanctioned killing of children born in violation of the law, government propaganda, and a child's lifelong confinement and psychological isolation.
Mild Violence
A significant character is killed by government forces offstage; the threat of capture and death for shadow children is constant and real; violence is not graphic but its consequences are emotionally sharp.
Synopsis
In a future where overpopulation laws allow each family only two children, Luke is a third child who has lived in hiding his entire life; when he secretly meets another shadow child named Jen, his world is cracked open by the possibility of resistance. The novel follows Luke's dawning awareness of injustice and his struggle to decide whether to risk everything for freedom. A tense, engaging dystopian novel that raises powerful questions about government authority and individual rights.