Shadow Children sequence
history
The
Shadow Children series is a series of books by
Margaret Peterson Haddix about a futuristic, overpopulated, resource-deprived Earth, and the effects of the government's attempts to quell overpopulation. The Population Police enforce the government's Population Law, killing or imprisoning "shadow children," any 3rd child in a family.
Overview
Luke Garner, a shadow child, in a time when there isn't much food, and therefore laws only allow two children per family, lives his life hidden from the outside world for fear of the Population Police (the government agency responsible for the assurance of a low population). One day, he notices one of his new neighbors has a shadow child, named Jen Talbot. Unlike most shadow children, though, Jen lives a privileged life as the third child of a Baron, one of the social elite. Educated and dedicated, she intends to organize a rally of all the shadow children in the country, to be staged outside of the president's house, to prove to the world that what the government is enforcing is wrong. Luke reluctantly refuses and stays home, realizing weeks later that Jen has not returned. After being caught sneaking into Jen's house by her father, a double agent of the Population Police, he discovers Jen and the other 39 people at the rally were shot. Mr. Talbot, hoping to help Luke, gives him a fake identity and sends him to a private school in hopes of obtaining some freedom in the world.
Luke struggles to adjust to his new life, fearful that he will be caught and declared an impostor. He gradually discovers he is not the only third child at the school and finds new friends. He also secretly finds that one of them is a spy for the Population Police. The spy is caught and arrested under the pretense of being a third child, and Luke discovers that almost every student in the school is a third child.
Luke is not alone in the dangerous world he now lives in. Nina, Trey, Percy, Matthias, and Alia, also third children, join his battle. They are forced to deal with betrayal, courage, and the true faces of the enemy. Together, they go through many extraordinary challenges to try and overthrow the hated government, but along the way they discover something more amazing than ever before.
Main Characters
- Luke Garner
The protagonist of Among the Hidden, Among the Impostors, Among the Barons, and Among the Free. He is a third child of a farmer and has lived most of his life hidden in his house with no company aside from his family. He has two older brothers, Matthew and Mark. After meeting Jen Talbot, the third child and only daughter of his affluent new neighbors, Luke begins to question his status as a third child and the world he lives in. He begins a difficult path towards living outside of the shadows. He uses the alias "Lee Grant", the deceased son of a prominent Baron family, after leaving his home to live in a boarding school.
- Nina Idi
The protagonist of Among the Betrayed. Her true name is Elodie Luria and she was raised by her grandmother and three elderly aunts: Zenka, Lystra, and Rhoda. While Nina initially appears to be an antagonist from the events of Among the Imposters, it is revealed her naivete and love for Jason Barstow resulted in her mistaken accusation as a spy for the Population Police. Throughout Among the Betrayed, she struggles with trying to save her own life at the cost of three much younger children. She subsequently joins Luke to stop the Population Police.
- Trey
The protagonist of Among the Brave. Trey is timid by nature, having spent his whole life in a room, and was raised by an ineffectual mother and a father who encouraged Trey to read and learn by providing his son with books. He is one of Luke's classmates in Among the Imposters and after attempting to save Luke from the Grant family, he must take initiative to save his captured friends with the help of Luke's brother Mark. He is very knowledgeable and intelligent as a result of spending most of his life in hiding reading. Though his recognized alias after coming out of the shadows is "Travis Jackson", he is reluctant to use the name and prefers to be called Trey; his true name is Trahern Cromwell Torrance.
- Matthias
The protagonist of Among the Enemy. Matthias was raised by a homeless, but deeply religious man named Samuel Jones along with two other third children, Percy and Alia. Samuel taught the children necessary skills to survive, including creating false ID cards, and instilled within Matthias moral values, such as not learning to hate others. As the central figure of Among the Enemy, Matthias and his friends are arrested by the Population Police; while they escape, Percy and Alia are injured and eventually separated from Matthias, who ends up being recruited into the Population Police. There, he must overcome his grief and helps Nina and her friends disrupt and destroy the Population Police's plans.
- Mark Garner
One of Luke Garner's older brothers, Mark joins Trey in Among the Brave to rescue Luke, Mr. Talbot, and their friends after they are captured by the Population Police. He subsequently helps the Shadow Children to subvert the Population Police.
Characters
- Jen Talbot
The daughter of an affluent Baron family and the third child of Mr. Talbot, Jen grew up with privileges and knowledge of the world as it actually isShe is critical of the Population Police and idealistic, seeking to bring a better world for herself and other third children through protests and demonstrations. She becomes Luke's first friend and after her tragic death, her memory continues to influence Luke's decisions to bring about the world she dreamed of.
- George Talbot
Jen Talbot's father, an influential member of the Population Police. He does not support its policies, so he works from within to try to subvert them. After Jen's death, he provides Luke with a false identity in order to live more openly and also saves the lives of Nina, Matthias, Percy and Alia. When the Population Police takes over the government, he is arrested as the leader of a rebel faction before being rescued by Trey, Mark, and Nedley and brought to Mr. Hendricks' home to recuperate. He is a key ally to Luke and his friends, but eventually believes that he no longer has the sufficient power to protect them any longer.
- Percy and Alia
Two young children raised alongside Matthias; when their guardian Samuel is killed trying to defend the children at Jen Talbot's rally, Matthias and his friends are captured by Mr. Talbot and used to determine Nina Idi's true loyalties. They are injured and separated from Matthias during Among the Enemy and initially believed to be dead - Matthias is overjoyed to discover that they, along with Mrs. Talbot, survived. Matthias considers Percy to be the most intelligent of their trio while Alia to be the most able to escape from traps.
- Jason Barstow
A student at Hendricks School for Boys, Jason is actually a spy planted by the Population Police as a supposed third child using the alias "Scott Renault" at Hendricks to expose potential third children, and, using Nina Idi's love for him, children at its sister school, Harlow School for Girls. After he is foiled in Among the Imposters, he becomes a marginal character working as a member of the Population Police.
- Mr. Hendricks
The wheelchair bound headmaster and founder of Hendricks School for Boys and possibly the associated Harlow School for Girls, schools that have been designed and structured to allow third children to live more openly. When the Population Police raids the two schools, he is left behind and lives in a cabin on the school grounds, surviving on a garden that Luke had the students build. His home becomes a sanctuary for those fleeing from the Population Police after they take over the government.
- ">Smithfield "Smits" Grant
The younger brother of the true Lee Grant, known by the nickname "Smits". As the son of a prominent Baron family, Smits' life is filled with more danger than Luke realizes - to the extent that Smits' late brother Lee created fake IDs for both of them. After an assassination attempt that kills both of Smits' parents, Luke sends Smits to his parents to remain hidden. During this time, Smits adopts the identity of "Peter Goodard".
- Oscar Wyner
Initially appearing as Smits' bodyguard in Among the Barons, Luke finds that Oscar's loyalties and intentions are always ambiguious and that he cannot be trusted. While Oscar makes it explicit that he is rebelling against the government, he appears to be an opportunist and seeks power. After an assassination attempt kills Mr. and Mrs. Grant, Oscar disappears. He reappears in an unsuccessful plot to take advantage of the fall of the Population Police's regime in Among the Free, but is foiled by Luke's testimony as a third child before the general public.
- Theodora Talbot
Mr. Talbot's wife and Jen's mother, Mrs. Talbot is a doctor. She first appears in Among the Brave; after meeting Trey, she abandons her home to live with Mr. Hendricks when the Population Police take over the government. She later appears in Among the Enemy to go with Matthias to rescue an injured Percy and Alia. Matthias assumes that she and his friends are killed by the Population Police, but is relieved to eventually learn that they all survived.
- Mathew Garner
One of the brothers of Luke Garner. he takes place in "Among the Hidden." Also at the end of "Among the Barons" when Luke bring Smits Grant home to Lukes parents to hide.
- Joel Westing and John Abbott
Students at Hendricks School for Boys, they are two of the boys Jason Barstow attempts to betray to the Population Police in Among the Imposters. They join Trey and Nina to save Luke when he is brought to the Grant family. After being captured and then rescued in Among the Brave, they choose to remain with Mr. Hendricks. Their real names are Antonio Blanco and Denton Weathers; before Jason's failed attempt to expose them, their aliases were "Samuel Irving" and "Travis Spencer" respectively.
- Nedley/Mike
A rebel in Mr. Talbot's faction against the government, he appears in the disguise of a Population Police officer at the beginning of Among the Brave when Mr. Talbot's house is raided and saves Trey by accident when Trey is able to understand the phrase "liber" (free), the code used by Mr. Talbot's resistance group. He appears , identifying himself as Nedley, to rescue Mark and then Trey as the two try to rescue Luke, Nina, Mr. Talbot, and the others from a Population Police prison. In Among the Enemy, he goes by the alias of "Mike" while working undercover at the Population Police headquarters, aiding both Matthias and Nina.
- Tiddy
A Population Police officer who gets his life saved by Matthias in "Among the Enemy". He helps Matthias as much as possible, but dies hours after signing Matthias up for the Population Police. He was killed when he confiscated fake ID cards, and it turned out they were coated in slow acting poison.
- Edna and Harlan Garner
Luke's parents who both appeared in the first book in the series "Among the Hidden." They both think that the government is watching their every move; and is tracking them down by their computers and television. Edna hasn't mentioned Luke to anybody in letters (not even outside family), because she's scared the government might read it. They're both very protective with Luke, but Luke knows that they are just doing it because they love him and want to protect him from the Population police.
Population Police
The Population Police is a fictional, totalitarian police force established for the sole purpose of exterminating children other than those born first or second in a family in an effort to quell overpopulation. They also regulate the growth and distribution of food.
The organization has been led by Aldous Krakenaur since Among the Hidden and control the population through a form of panopticism. Corruption is apparent and the organization is able to influence the government, eventually overthrowing it and taking control in Among the Brave. While the group presents itself as all powerful and perfect, rebels and double agents exist within, including Mr. Talbot and later on, Luke Garner and his friends.
The Population Police are eventually removed from power in Among the Free. In a final attempt to retake control while the newly freed population tries to reassert democratic values and stabilize itself, the Population Police and Oscar attempt to use propaganda to blame the faults of the previous government on the existence of third children. However, Luke Garner, in revealing his experiences as a third child, casts doubt into the general populace and force them to think for themselves rather than accepting the arguments of Oscar and the Population Police again, thus enabling the Population Police to be permanently removed.