Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Shadow Children series)

A couple of weeks ago I read the entire Shadow Children series.  Each book was about 150-200 pages in length .
The Shadow Children are the illegal 3rd children in a family.  After the Famine, the government decreed that each family could only have two children.  3rd children were killed either before or after birth and families who harbor 3rd  children are considered criminals. 

Each book centers on a certain theme/protagonist

• Among the Hidden~ Luke is a 3rd child who has always tasted the freedom of outdoors because his family lives in an isolated area, but one day the bulldozers come to take down the woods and build houses.  Luke is forced to live in the attic, hiding in the shadows from the world.  Then Luke spots another 3rd in a house next door to him.  Jen opens Luke's world to the outside, to hopes and dreams of one day not having to hide.
• Among the Impostors~ After the events in Among the Hidden, Luke assumes the identity of a dead legal child (Lee Grant) and is sent to a school for troubled kids.  Here Luke thinks he may have found a home in the classes and the garden he begins making outside.  Then he finds out there are multiple 3rd children at the school.  Has he found a place to be accepted?
• Among the Betrayed~ Nina is the main protagonist of this book.  Having been captured by the Population Police, Nina is thrown into a cell with two other children whom she suspects are 3rd children.  Nina is questioned by the police and asked to betray Matthais, Percy, and Alia.  When she decides not to, the children run for their lives.
• Among the Barons~ Luke is summoned by his "parents" the Grants.  He is forced to pretend to be Lee in public.  While he is living the high life, he knows that something is up.  His suspicions are confirmed when the Grants reveal that they have a plan for him to die.
• Among the Brave
• Among the Enemy
• Among the Free

I will try and come back to finish the summaries later, but here is my view of the series.

The Shadow Children series is written for a younger audience that then Missing series was, but I enjoyed it anyway.  I found myself reading a book or two a night until the series was finished.  That is one of the true measures of a series, if I have to read the next book right away.

I'd really recommend this for the 9 and up crowd.

Books I want to look into reading

The first book is set in Colorado and I think I might like to read it, so I thought I'd post here before I forgot.  It is Sandra Dallas' Tallgrass

Another book is Shoeless Joe

The Headmaster's Wager by Vincent Lam

Every Day by David Levithan

Imagine waking up as a different person every day.  You aren't really them, but you have been inserted into their body and their mind for the day.  Imagine not having a family or ties to anybody.  That was A's life.  It has been that way since A was "born" and he has come to accept his life.

Until Rhianna, she changes everything.  A risks the people he is a guest in and himself to see her, to be with her.  Can this work?


I've heard a lot of good things about this book and it wasn't a bad book, it just didn't live up to my expectations.  I kept expecting it to go somewhere and it didn't.  Nathan, Poole, Rhianna, even A had really no storyline development or conclusion.  The book wrapped up too nicely and not at all.

I'm not sure who I would recommend this to, but I also wouldn't tell anybody to stay away from it.  It was just ok.

Pages:  324

Pages read so far

4937 pages read so far this year, not including the pages from Catch-22.

Faithful Place by Tana French

I've come to expect a lot from Tana French and she did not disappoint with Faithful Place.  I figured the ended out about two thirds of the way through, but wasn't totally sure until she wanted me to be.

Frank Mackey, and undercover cop, gets a frantic phone call from his sister Jackie.  Since she is the only family member he has been in contact with in the last couple of decades, Mackey assumes that the bad news is about his family.

He is completely shocked and through off guard when he finds that his young sweetheart's suitcase was found in a run down building.  The two had intended to run off together in the evening hours, but they never met up.  Frank assumed that Rosie had left him and he didn't blame her... but the suitcase changes everything.  Maybe Rosie didn't leave him.  Maybe something bad happened to her.

The suitcase forces Frank to return to Faithful Place, a place he has avoided for almost thirty years.  From the moment he steps foot into his own neighborhood he is pulled into the family drama, his desire to escape, and a mystery that has haunted him for most of his life.


I liked Faithful Place.  In French's style it gets a bit wordy at times.  I was hooked from the first chapter and I believe most people will be.  If you like mysteries, stories set in other countries, or tragic love this book is for you.

Pages:  400

Dead Ever After by Charliane Harris

I read Deadlocked in the days leading up to the release of Dead Ever After so that I had the plots fresh in my mind.  While I don't seem to hate this book like many other fans do, I did not like it as much as I did the first couple.  Harris seems to grab every character/storyline in this series to revive in the last book.  Her bows are a little too tight and the wrong color.

In the 13th book in the Southern Vampire (aka Sookie Stackhouse) novels, Sookie is charged with the murder of Arlene, former friend and would-be murderer.  She deals with her lover and vampire husband being betrowed  to the Queen of Oklahoma.  Vampire friends shut her out and Sookie is alone and hunted by multiple creatures.

Seriously.  I get the instinct to give closure to the story lines and characters, but when you shove so much into one book it becomes disjointed and desperate.

Finally SPOILER (highlight to read)

After 12 books of just friends and no feelings, Sookie falls out of love (a most passionate, enduring love according to Sookie) and in love/lust/happily ever after with another?  Wow, talk about rebound.  Again I get the instinct, but it was a horrible way to consummate that relationship.

Executive Privilege by Phillip Margolin

This was a Free Friday book from Nook and I am glad it was as I really enjoyed it.  Since I assume that authors participate in Free Friday to gain loyal readers, this one worked.  I will be looking for other books by Margolin to read.

Executive Privilege follows two main storylines; one of private detective/ex-cop Dana Cutler and the other of new attorney Brad Miller.  At first I found it hard to follow as I couldn't imagine what the two storylines had in common. 

Dana Cutler is hired to do a simple surveillance job.  Follow Charlotte Walsh, take pictures, and report back to the mystery client.  It sounds simple and like easy money until Cutler follow Walsh to a farm house and the Secret Service.  When Walsh is found murdered just hours after Cutler's last picture, Culter is forced to go on the run.

Meanwhile, Brad Miller is assigned a pro-bono case for a serial killer.  He begrudgingly meets with the killer who professes his innocence in ONE of the multiple murders he is accused and convicted of.  His alibi?  He was too busy murdering two other people and could not have possibly murdered the one girl.

Both murders seem to have a common theme, but can either Brad or Dana figure it out before they too are murdered?

Sabotage and Torn by Margaret Peterson Haddix

I'm going to put my review up here so that one does not have to read through the spoilers to get to it.

I love these books.  I love how there is a bit of history to them (though Torn is not always accurate) and that at the end of the book the author tells a little about the time and the "missing" doomed child.

I can't wait to read the fifth book and then I will anxiously await the next in the Missing series.  While I wait, I think I will be picking up some more of her books.

Sabotage and Torn are books three and four in The Missing series.  I recommend reading the other books before reading this review.

In Sabotage, Jonah and Katherine are sent back to 1603 with Andrea aka Virginia Dare to help fix time.  Unfortunately Amanda had been enticed by a strange man who told her if she messed with the Elucidator she would be able to save her parents who were killed in a car accident.  The kids end up in the wrong place and maybe in the wrong time.

Once landed they find tracers all over, but not Andrea's.  Jonah and Katherine are concerned about messing up time as each set they take may set off a chain reaction, but their bigger problem is the two light skinned- Native American looking tracers who don't seem to have humans to go with them.  The kids must follow the tracers and try to recreate their moves in order to not change history.

STOP READING HERE TO AVOID SPOILERS















The kids discover that Andrea's mystery man calls himself Second and is trying to give second chances to those in history.  Andrea meets her grandfather and his fate is changed, changing all time after.  But Second doesn't anticipate time collapsing on itself in a way that may just end it all...

Leaving the others behind, Jonah and Katherine are pulled out of 1603 and bounce through time landing in 1611 on board the Discovery, Henry Hudson's ship.  They must fix 1611 in order to keep time from ending, but the missing child, John Hudson, is no wear to be found and even scarier is that there are no tracers showing the original events.

Jonah must disguise himself as John and hope he doesn't do something that causes time to cease.

Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Sent is the second book in the Missing Children series by Margaret Haddix.  If you haven't read Found, the next couple of lines may be spoilers.

Found ended with the missing children stuck in a cave that was not in time.  JD is determined to send the children wrongly pulled from time back to their correct time period.  Just as he aims the Elucidator at the Chip, Jonas and Katherine grab Chip and are transported back in time with him.

Sent begins with the children being transported back in time; to Chip's real time and real identity...Edward the V of England, King Edward that is.  Joining them is Alex, aka Richard, Edward's little brother and prince.  JD gives the four children the opportunity to correct the time that was displaced with the kidnappings of Chip and Alex.  If they succeed, the boys may return to the current time and live the rest of their lives as Chip and Alex.  If they fail, they will meet the same fate as Edward and Richard...presumably death.


I love the way Haddix writes.  She stays fairly true to historical accuracy while still taking some artistic liberty.  This second book is not as suspenseful as the first, but it kept me turning the pages.  I read the book in two nights and started the third.  For me, that is the true measure of a series...reading the next book right away or being disappointed that there isn't another book to read.

I'd recommend this to kids (probably 5th or 6th grade and up) and those who like younger fiction and/or historical based fiction.

Persisting through Catch-22

I've read good things about this book.  It is on high school reading lists (not saying that only good books are on there, but...), considered a classic, one of the great satires of the 20th century, is a jeopardy clue.  It even spawned a catch phrase that is used today.

I had high hopes.  I was excited to read Catch-22.  And then I started.

Admittedly, I'm not very far into the book.  I have struggled to want to read it and the pages are turning quickly when I do pick it up.  That being said, I am just not into it.  I don't find it to be humorous and I don't find it to be appealing.

I haven't read nearly as much this February as I did in January.  I was just stuck on Catch-22.

So today, I put it aside and started (and will probably finish) a young adult book by Margaret Haddix called Sent.

Reading shouldn't be a chore unless you are taking a class.  Reading should be fun, relaxing, informative...

So I took a break. 

Now I am not saying I am giving up on the book completely.  I've started it and damn it, I am going to finish.  It is now my own personal challenge to finish Catch-22.

Read in January

Books read: 5 books

Total pages read:  1570 pages

The Giver by Lois Lowry

In a future time things are different than they are today.  People are the same.  There is no real identity, no conflict. Children are referred to as ages and at specific ages they all get the same thing and the Twelves receive what will be their job for their life.

Jonas doesn't get a job, he gets a calling.  He will be the holder of the truth, of the memories, of the way things were before.  The Giver currently holds all these memories and slowly hands them over to Jonas.  He experiences sledding on a cold winter day, the sun, colors...things that do not exist in his current world. 

Feelings, colors, joy, and pain are hard for Jonas to contain inside himself and he begins to believe that perhaps his society isn't as great as he had believed it to be.


The Giver is a decent book.  It isn't a 5 or even 4 star type of book.  The author seems to be vague as to not have to give too many details or create characters.  You need to have a pretty strong imagination to follow this book.

I can tell if I love a book or not if, when done reading the first in a series, I am clamoring to read the second.  That didn't happen with this book.  While I will probably read the second one in the series, I am in no hurry at this time.

Private: #1 Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Jack Morgan's ex-assistant and ex-girlfriend is dead, shot in his bedroom and he is the #1 suspect.  Some of the police for are happy to take Morgan and Private down a notch or two.  Jack is on the case of his life, for his life, and he has little to go on.
As if that wasn't enough, Jack's mob "friend" has a job for Jack that he shouldn't refuse.  A truck load of drugs was carjacked from Noccia's men and stored somewhere in L.A.  Noccia wants Private to get it back for him.
Finally, there have been a rash of murders in hotels in which the victim has been garroted.  Private is hired to be on the case.

I like this series so far.  There is enough action to keep you interested.  There is enough, but not too much, personal sides and there is no figuring out "who did it" because that person may or may not have been introduced yet.
If you are a fan of the Patterson/Paetro duo, this book won't disappoint.

The Labours of Hercules by Agatha Christie

The Labours of Hercules is a collection of short stories that are supposed to depict the last cases of the famous detective Hercule Poirot (since I have not read any other Hercule Poirot novels, I do not know if this is the case).  Just before embarking on the labours, Hercule had begun to read about his namesake, the Greek god Hercules.  Learning of the twelve labours that Hercules completed, Poirot resolves to take just twelve more cases before he retires and decrees they must connect, in order, to the labours of Hercules.

As with most collection of short stories, the reader will have favorites and some that aren't as well liked.  There were some that I figured out a few pages in and some, like The Stymphalean Birds that were a complete surprise to me.

The stories are short and well managed.  They wrap up before the reader gets bored.  Mystery, literature, and of course Agatha Christie fans may like this book.

The 12 labours are:
The Nemean Lion:  Poirot accepts a case of a kidnapped dog
The Lernaean Hydra:  Poirot is employed to help dispel rumors that a man killed his wife.
The Arcadian Deer:  After his car breaks down, a man asked Poirot for his help locating a beautiful woman who seems to have dropped off the face of the planet.
The Erymanthian Boar:  Poirot embarks on a trip to the top of a mountain in order to catch an elusive fugitive who is rumored to be at the hotel.  When the only form of communication and travel is broken, Poirot must solve the mystery and stay alive.
The Augean Stables:  A not-corrupt current political head is threatened by the misdeeds of his predecessor.  Poirot is asked to try and clean up the potential political pitfall.
The Stymphalean Birds:  A scared young wife, a protective old mother, a would be knight-shining-armour, two old ladies and a jealous, vengeful husband and murder.

and more...

The Cretan Bull

The Horses of Diomedes

The Girdle of Hyppolita

The Flock of Geryon

The Apples of Hesperides

The Capture of Cerberus

Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

I actually listened to this book on CD while commuting to work.  It is read by President Obama so if you don't like his voice, you won't like listening to it. 

Since I enjoy his voice, I found it to be enjoyable.  The book seems to be Obama's views on anything from politics to family to faith to the economic market.  He writes how he sees things, what is currently working and not, and what his vision is to change the status quo. 

I like that he doesn't paint himself to be infallible or omniscience.  He doesn't pretend that his ideas are the only fix or that they will fix everything that is currently wrong or broken.

I don't know if I would have enjoyed it as much as I did had I read it instead of listening.  There was just something about hearing the man who wrote the words and who would just a couple of years later become the President of the United States that made it that much more enjoyable.

Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe

I wasn't sure about reading this book as I really haven't read too many autobiographies, but this was recommended by some different people who have read it.  Since those recommending it came from all walks of life with different reading interests, I thought what the hell.  I love me some Sam Seaborn...let's read it.

I wasn't disappointed.  His story telling ability made me feel like I was reading a novel.  I couldn't wait to see what happened next.  The amount of chance encounters and just being in the right place at the right time...I can't fathom it.  It sounds almost made up the way he's met all these people even before his big break.

Rob Lowe: Brat pack member, heart-throb, success, disgrace, alcoholic, party boy, husband, friend...  the list goes on and on.  In this autobiography the reader gets to know Lowe.  His life is an interesting read.  The chance encounters, the struggles, and the triumphs make "Stories I Only Tell My Friends" a must read.  I almost felt like I was reading a well written novel.

I absolutely enjoyed this book.  I rarely give 5 stars, but this book deserves it and more.  I am in awe by the experiences of his life.

The Bone Thief by Jefferson Bass

The Bone Thief was the first book I read for the "You Have the Right to Remain Silent" challenge.  This one should count under the Outside the Law category.

This book was okay. It centers on Bill Brockton, professor and Body Farm founder. Bill is recruited to help with an undercover sting by the FBI something he has a hard time stomaching.   Bill's relationships are tested and his credibility may be ruined.  In the background of the FBI case, Dr. Brockton is also helping greasy lawyer Devies exhume bodies and sue people.

I found it a little dry in parts; almost like Bass was just filling space. Another note, which may have led to the dryness but not the author's fault was this copy of the book was written in very small type and the book itself was small and dense.

10th Anniversary by James Patterson

In this 10th instalment of the Woman's Murder Club, Lindsay Boxer is a newly married woman trying to adjust to being a wife, but, as usual, the book focuses on a couple of cases.  First case is a missing child, a bleeding teenager, and a question about what happened to her.  Then our fearless reporter Cindy becomes involved in a bizarre string of sexual assaults in which the victim doesn't remember anything and is dropped near her home.  The final case in 10th Anniversary is one Yuki is trying.  She believes she has an open and shut case agings Dr. Marin, but the defense attorney asks Lindsey to poke around.  Friendships are tested, but prevail.

As with all of the books in this series, I liked it.  I like that the author has you focus on more than one case to keep your mind sharp.  If you do not like Patterson's style of writing, you won't like this book.  Otherwise, grab a chair by the fire or a lounge on the beach and dig in.

3.5 out of 5