Shadow Children
Malthusian Catastrophe for the Young Adult set, written by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Twenty Minutes Into the Future, laws have been passed strictly prohibiting families from having more than two children, allegedly due to the risk of overpopulation. Illicit "third children"\x9D are killed, imprisoned, or, more often than not, hidden from the government. The seven-book series follows the experiences of the hidden kids as they come of age, and as a movement begins to overthrow the totalitarian government.
While most of the books followed Luke, the character introduced in the first and most famous of the series (Among the Hidden), the third, fifth and sixth books followed minor characters introduced previously, while still furthering the general plot of the series, and off-screen interactions between other supporting characters were alluded to, particularly in the denouements of each book. This created a sense of a larger world and overarching plot, even though the actual plots of the books tended to feel claustrophobic (justifiably so, as the characters would usually be undercover, on the run, or both).
Novels in the series:
- Among the Hidden (1998)
- Among the Imposters (2001)
- Among the Betrayed (2002)
- Among the Barons (2003)
- Among the Brave (2004)
- Among the Enemy (2005)
- Among the Free (2006)
- A Day in the Limelight: Among the Betrayed, Among the Brave, and Among the Enemy focus on Nina, Trey, and Matthias respectively.
- Becoming the Mask: A rare forced version in which Luke must become Lee Grant in Among the Barons.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Oscar Wydell.
- Cool House: The Grants' home in Among the Barons.
- Dead Person Impersonation: Luke impersonates Lee Grant for the most of the series, who died in a skiing accident. It was more complicated than that - notably, it definitely wasn't an accident.
- Doomed Moral Victor: Jen Talbot. Her death is the impetus for practically the rest of the series.
- Dystopia: Oh yeah.
- Falling Chandelier of Doom
- Family-Unfriendly Death: Practically every death in the series.
- The Government
- Law Enforcement, Inc.: The Population Police.
- Manipulative Bastard: Oscar Wydell again.
- The Mole: Jason Barstow in Among the Impostors.
- The Obi-Wan: Mr. Talbot and Mr. Hendricks.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The Population Police-controlled government is overthrown while Luke is hiding in the woods in the seventh book. Granted, it was because his televised action inspired people to revolt, and the plot's not over yet.
- Population Control: Strictly enforced by the Population Police.
- The Starscream: Oscar Wydell, again.
- Trust Password: Trey survives by using it by accident. It's liber.
- ~What Do You Mean, It's Not For Kids?~: For a young adult series, there are some strikingly horrifying scenes, mostly involving Family Unfriendly Deaths.