Among the Brave

In a society that restricts the number of children per family to only two, third children are illegal.  Trey is one of these third children caught in the midst of an overthrow of the government.  The Population Police have taken over the government and further enforce their draconian laws.

Trey meets Luke’s real family as they return to Luke’s home.  There, he meets Luke’s real brothers and, it is from there, Trey’s search for courage begins.

Trey’s friends have been captured by the Population Police in this coup and it is up to Trey to save them.  However, Trey, because of the way he was raised,  is afraid of his own shadow and battles his own doubts and fears.  How in the world is he going to save anyone?

He knows his friends would risk their lives to save him if he were the one captured.  Can he find the courage and strength to help his friends?  Can Trey and Mark, one of Luke’s real brothers, save Luke before it’s too late?

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Among the Barons - Margaret Haddix

Imagine you are an illegal third child in a society that has outlawed any family having more than 2 children and given a fake ID of the dead child of the most powerful family in the nation.  You are then sent off to school as this child, almost exposed as an illegal, then watch as the betrayer himself is arrested instead of you.  You get comfortable in the school and are instrumental in breaking some boys out of their shells.  What do you do when you are told your little brother, one you have never met, will be joining you?

In the fourth book in the Shadow Children series, we are back with Luke/Lee Grant.  He is still at the Hendricks School, but he is helping the other boys, mostly other shadow children, come out of their shells and learn to live in the world.  All seems to be going well, when Lee Grant’s brother Smithfield (Smits) comes to the school.  This sends Luke/Lee into a tailspin because he doesn’t know if Smits will accept him as Lee, or betray him as an imposter.

It’s not long before Smits and Lee are called home to the Grant estate.  He is now among the barons in a world in which he has no idea how to exist.  Can he continue the charade of being Lee in front of the friends and servants?  He still must figure out who he can trust, and who he can’t.

Again, this book has had me staying up and flipping pages just to get to the end.  Then, I find myself only wanting to go on to the next book.

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Among the Betrayed

What if you were arrested for a crime you did not commit?  The punishment for the crime you are accused of is death.  Just as you are resigned to be executed, you are given a reprieve if only you agree to betray three others.  Your betrayal will cost them their lives, but will save yours.  What would you do?

At the beginning of the Shadow Children books, Among the Hidden, we meet Luke Garner.  He is an illegal third child in a society that limits families to only 2 children, under penalty of death.  Luke was able to play in the woods around his house and still be hidden, until the Government forces his father to sell the woods for a housing development.  He meets another third child, Jen Talbot, whose father works for the dreaded Population Police.  In the second book, Among the Imposters, Luke is given a fake ID and sent off to school as Lee Grant.  He meets Jason and Nina and learns terrible secrets.

Now, in this third book, Nina tells her story after she is arrested by the Population Police for betraying her country by accusing children of being illegal with fake IDs.  They even play a tape of Jason, her first love, accusing her of plotting the whole thing trying to save his own life.  Nina is moved to a cell with Matthias, Percy, and Alia and is told they were manufacturing fake IDs.  She is to find out how they were doing it and who they were working with before the Government put them to death.  In exchange, she would be allowed to live.

She has several hard decisions to make when she has a chance to escape, either alone or with her new cellmates.  Why should she help them when nobody has come to help her.  Her three cellmates don’t trust her, so why should she trust them?

The author continues this thought-provoking tale with even more suspenseful moments that keep the book in the reader’s hand and eyes glued to the pages for hours.

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Among the Imposters

In the second book of this series, Luke, an illegal third child in a society that limits families to only two children, stayed hidden ever since he was born.  If the Population Police knew he existed, not only did he face certain death, but his family would also.  In the first book, Luke found out there were more shadow children in the world and there are people who believe the population laws should be changed.  After learning that his first and only friend, Jen, was killed by the Population Police during a rally of third children she organized, his life changes dramatically.  What happens when Luke, or, as his fake ID says, Lee Grant is taken to a boarding school for troubled boys by Jen’s father?

The book begins when Luke/Lee is taken to the school and Mr. Talbot, Jen’s father, hands him a note that he cannot read because he is never alone.  Luke/Lee has to figure out how to interact with others when he’s never been with anyone but his own family?  Why are the teachers acting strange?  Why is this one boy tormenting him?  Can he really blend in without betraying himself as a third child?  Is there anyone he can trust?  If he shares his secrets, will it cost him his life?

I read this book over a two-day span and the last few chapters kept my eyes rivited to the pages.  In fact, I stayed up late just to finish it and I can’t wait to start on the third book of the series.

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Peter and the Starcatchers

I remember as a child reading about this boy who could fly, lived life as he wanted to, playing and having adventures with his friends, and would never grow old.  His name was Peter Pan.  I never thought about how Peter came to be this way, I guess I just accepted that it had always been.  But, everything must have a beginning and Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have teamed up to explain the beginning.  So, where did Peter Pan begin?

The evil king of Rundoon needs servants, so Peter and four other orphans are taken captive aboard the old, creaky ship, the Never Land to be delivered to the king.  As Peter is trying to find food, he meets Molly.  Molly is the daughter of the British Amabassador to Rundoon and they are on a special mission.  They are guardians of a trunk filled with mysterious and valuable treasure.  Unfortunately, the pirate Captain Black Stache also knows this treasure is on board and he wants it for himself.

Peter finds out that Molly and her father are Starcatchers and members of a secret society that protects starstuff.  Starstuff is a magical substance that falls from the stars and changes everything it touches.  They must make sure evil people do not come into possession of starstuff as that would make them very powerful indeed.  When, through a long series of events, they become shipwrecked on an islad, they must try to recover the starstuff, but they find that everyone else is trying to get it for themselves.

Barry and Pearson have taken a story that has enchanted youngsters (and adults) for years and have done a masterful job of explaining how an orphan named Peter became Peter Pan.

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Everyone remembers Junior High, or maybe it was called Middle School. It was a time when nobody was certain of anything, especially themselves. Diary of a Wimpy Kid began as a web comic in 2004 and was quickly adapted as a book about Greg Heffley, middle school student, trying to make his way in a world with kids to are taller, meaner, and already shaving.

Greg’s mom forces his to keep a diary (”a JOURNAL, not a diary”) where he tells about each day in both words and comic illustrations.  Greg launches many grand schemes to become popular, build a robot that won’t repeat swear words, taunting the bullies from his gramma’s house, and much more.

The author is absolutely brilliant in bringing the hazards of growing up to the reader in such a hilarious way.  I found myselft chuckling several times when reading this book.  Children can relate and find humor in similar real-life situations as they read this, and adults can fondly (or not) remember their days as an awkward child in their middle school years, even if you were cool.

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Among the Hidden - Margaret Haddix

Imagine a society so overpopulated that the law limits families to only two children. Imagine you are a third child, one who must be hidden or face death by the Population Police. You can never go to school, never get a job, never go outside where you may be seen. You are a shadow child, but are you all alone?

Luke is a shadow child who must live in hiding on his family’s farm.  But, now the Government has forced his family to sell the woods by their farm to build housing.  Now, Luke is unable to even go out into his yard.  Since the houses are so close now, he can’t even go into rooms with window lest people become suspicious when the shades are drawn.

One day, however, Luke is sneaking a peek after everyone goes to work and sees another face in one of the new houses.  He can’t believe that there is another shadow child living so close and risks his life and his family’s lives to meet her.  Jennifer is the illegal child of an official with the Population Police.  However, instead of content with hiding, she is organizing a protest with other shadow children and urges Luke to participate.

This book starts out slowly, making the reader very well aware of the bleakness of Luke’s situation.  She does a magnificent job of putting the reader into the story.  The storyline picks up with Luke and Jennifer getting together and the reader is challenged to try to decide whether the population crisis is really as bad as the Government says, or if it is just a matter of control.

This is a book that both children and parents can enjoy separately or together.  It can be a great discussion starter in the home and classroom.

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1. Read to and with your children for 30 minutes every day. It is very important to read out loud to your children before they start school. Help your children to read with you. Ask them to find letters and words on the page and talk with your children about the story.
2. Talk with infants and young children before they learn to read. Talk with your children all day long, using short, simple sentences. Talking with them even before they can speak will help them later when they learn to read and write.
3. Help your children to read on their own. Reading at home helps children do better in school. Have lots of children’s books in your home and visit the library every week. Help your children get their own library cards and let them pick out their own books.
4. If your child has a developmental delay, your child may find reading frustrating. Have books on tape in your home. Borrow or buy a tape player that is easy to work. If you cannot find recordings of your child’s favorite books, you or a family member could make recordings of them for your child to listen to while looking at the books.
5. Help your child to see that reading is important. Suggest reading as a free-time activity. Make sure your children have time in their day to read. Set a good example for your children by reading newspapers, magazines, and books.
6. Set up a reading area in your home. Keep books that interest your children in places where they can easily reach them. As your children become better readers, make sure that you add harder books to your collection.
7. Give your children writing materials. Children want to learn how to write and to practice writing. Help them learn by having paper, pencils, pens, or crayons for them in your home. Help your children write if they ask you. If your child has a special learning or physical need, regular pens and pencils may not be the best choice. Ask your pediatrician or people who work with your child at school or at the child care center to suggest other writing materials your child can use.
8. Read and write with your children in their native language. Practicing their first language will help your children learn to read and write English.
9. Talk with your children as you do daily activities together. When you take your children places, talk with them about what you are doing and ask them questions. If your child cannot hear, use whatever form of communication your child usually uses.
10. Ask your children to describe events in their lives. Talking about their experiences makes children think about them. Giving detailed descriptions and telling complete stories also helps children learn about how stories are written and what the stories they read mean.
11. Restrict the amount and kind of TV your children watch. Watch educational TV programs with your children that teach letter sounds and words or give information about nature and science.
12. Keep track of your children’s progress in school. Visit your children’s classrooms to learn how your children are doing in school and how you can help your children become better students. Ask about the school’s reading program and where your children need help.
13. Become a learning partner/reading tutor to a child in your neighborhood or from your local elementary school. Volunteer to read with or to a child for 30 minutes a week for at least eight weeks. Take the child to the library to get him or her a library card.

As the PSA from the 70’s said, “Reading is FUNdamental”

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The Giver - Lois Lowry

This Newbery Medal winning book is, what I would call, a unique utopian novel. Unique in the fact that it is one of the few for children and seems to defend the society to a degree.

Imagine the perfect society: no pain, no crime, no unhappiness, everybody has an assigned purpose.  This is called Sameness.  Children in Jonas’ perfect society are assigned their life assignments at the Ceremony of Twelve.  This assignment is to be their job for their life, no changing jobs, or wanting to be something different.  Jonas is awed to find out he has been chosen to be the Receiver of Memories, a position of honor held by only one person at a time.

Now that Jonas is the Receiver, he must now be trained by the previous Receiver who is now called the Giver.  The giver transfers memories of past events, before Sameness was implemented – horrible memories of war, hunger and disease that the community has no idea of.  He also gains memories of color, weather, exhileration, extreme sadness, hate and other strong emotions.

Based upon what Jonas has learned, he is forced to make a decision that may destroy their society.

This book is thought provoking and is great for class or family discussions.  The ending is wide open and leaves the reader wondering what exactly happened and allows the reader to decide their own beliefs.  Wonderful book and highly recommended.

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The City of Ember

Imagine living in a city that is eternally dark with the only light being from an electrical system that is falling apart.  Not only that, but food and other supplies are running out as well.  The Builders only meant for the city to last 220 years, but it has now been 241 years.  The Builders left instructions on leaving the city after 220 years, but those have been stuffed in a case and forgotten.

However, the case is found, but Lina’s baby sister ate most of the instructions.  So, now she and her friend Doon must try to figure out what the instructions said before the city completely shuts down.  From this, they learn why the city of Ember was built in the first place and what the Builders were trying to do.  When they try to tell the citizens, they find out the mayor is stealing supplies and doesn’t want it to end.

Read the book and find out if they escape the mayor’s guards and escape the city.

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