Saturday, January 12, 2008

Among the Free by Margaret Peterson Haddix



Shadow Children #7

From the Publisher
"Enough games," the man said, raising the gun yet again. "And enough of the Population Police, I say."
This time he cocked the gun and aimed carefully.

This is real, Luke thought. This is really going to happen.

"No, don't!" he screamed.

Luke Garner is a third-born in a restrictive society that allows only two children per family. Risking his life, he came out of hiding to fight against the Population Police laws. Now, in the final volume of Margaret Peterson Haddix's suspenseful Shadow Children series, Luke inadvertently sets off a rebellion that results in the overthrow of the government. The people are finally free. But who is in charge now? And will this new freedom be everything they had hoped?

With all of the plot twists and excitement Haddix's fans have come to expect, Among the Free brings the Shadow Children sequence to a chilling conclusion.


My Opinion
This was a good ending to a wonderful story. While I found this final book in the series to be a bit anti-climatic of an ending as far as the action went, it was quite good as far as the philosophical angle. Very thought provoking. Just how easy would it be to manipulate a society into turning their hatred to a group of children who were not supposed to exist, after years of starvation and hardship. The fact that the new 'government' was so easily able to manipulate society as a whole was quite scary.

I was a little bothered by the first half of the book, where the author seems to completely change Luke's personality. Turning him into a scared, cowardly, child instead of the strong leader that he has been portrayed as in earlier books.

But over all it was a good ending to a wonderful series. I am glad that I had the opportunity to read it.

No comments: