Booktalking Colorado - Full Booktalk Record

Booktalking Colorado Full Record:

	Title:	Among the Hidden
	Author:	Haddix, Margaret Peterson
	Date Published:	1998
	Genre:	Sci-Fi
	Grade Level:	5 - 7
	Booktalker:	Marilyn Bunker

Booktalk:
Population Law 3903 was passed so that no parent could have more than 2 children. The penalty for having a third child was severe. The 3rd child was illegal and the population police seemed to know everything. Luke Garner was a shadow child, an illegal, whose older brothers, Matthew & Mark, and parents kept him hidden. Luke's parents ran a hog farm with a large forest behind it. The forest was the only place that Luke was allowed to play for fear of discovery. Then, the government had the woods cut to make room for government workers. Luke was then confined to his attic room. His mom was usually home and would bring him treats and play games and talk with him. But then taxes went up and his mom was forced to work to help pay for them. So, Luke spent his days watching the neighborhood from the vents at either end of his room. He balanced himself on trunks and watched the hordes of workmen build huge houses and watched families move into them. He always counted the kids...1...2... After awhile, Luke knew all the families. There was the Big Car Family that had 4 expensive cars in the driveway; the Gold Family whose hair was the color of sunshine; the Bird Brain Family with 30 birdhouses along their backyard fence; and the Sports Family which he liked the best. They had a deck full of soccer balls, baseball bats, tennis rackets, basketballs, hockey sticks, and stuff he didn't recognize. After his family left for the day, Luke watched the other families leave, car by car. All the houses would be empty. Then one day, out of the corner of his eye, Luke caught a glimpse of something behind a window in the Sports Family's house...a face, a child's face...in a house where 2 boys already lived. He was so surprised that he almost fell off his trunk. Luke stared at the house for the rest of the day until the Sports Family boys came home in their jeep and ran into the house. For the next 2 weeks Luke spent his days staring at the Sports Family's house. On the 4th day, one of the blinds flipped up & down at 11:00. On the 7th day, a light went off and on at 9:07. One-half hour later, the Sports Family mother drove up in her red car and ran into the house. Two minutes later, the blind in the window went down, and the mother left immediately. On the 13th day, some blinds blew back in an open window and Luke saw lights going on and off. He had no doubts anymore. Someone was hiding in the Sports Family's house. The question was, "Now what?" What good did it do Luke? Then, a crazy idea sprouted. What if he sneaked into the Sports Family's house and met the other 3rd child? He spent days plotting his route. The bushes and the barn hid Luke in his yard. Then, the birdhouses and the shared fence in the Sports Family's house would hide him. Finally, it was only three giant steps to the house. He could do it!! But would he, could he, gather up the courage?! He knew he couldn't wait. He just couldn't stand it. So, one day he left his home, crouched and half-crawled, half-ran along his home behind the bushes and the barn. He took a deep breath and ran right to the Sports Family's screen door. It was locked! In all his plans, Luke had never considered that possibility. His hand plunged through the screen and played with the lock until it clicked, stepped through the pulled blinds and entered the house... What did Luke find? Was there another 3rd child hiding in the house? Will Luke spend the rest of his life in hiding? What will Luke's parents do? What about the Population Police? Do they really know everything?