Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Among the Free (Shadow Children, Book 7) Among the Free
by Margaret Peterson Haddix


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's a wrap! This final book in the Shadow Children series is told from Luke's perspective, which seems appropriate since we started this whole journey with him in the first book. Luke has infiltrated the Population Police and resists a direct order to shoot an old woman, inadvertently setting off a chain of events that leads to the demise of the Population Police. This seems like an amazing event, or is it? Our old friend Oscar Wydell (Smits' bodyguard from Among the Barons) places himself in charge of the new government. Luke is unsettled about this, but even more puzzled when he overhears Oscar conferring with Aldous Krakenaur, the former leader of the Population Police.

What remains is for Luke to decide what is right, what freedom really means, and what can he, as a solitary child do about it?

I enjoyed this last book in the series. It had plenty of plot twists and turns and lots of action. I found myself reflecting on some of the restrictions placed on population around the world and wondered if the author was trying to give some sort of subtle message about this. The ending of the book isn't completely cut and dried like I expected and I liked that too. WIthout giving too much away, I feel like the end made sense considering the surroundings and current state of affairs.

Liked the series, but ready to move on to new horizons! Suzanne Collins, here we come!

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1 comment:

Tricia said...

I'm glad you enjoyed the series. Can't wait for you to read Catching Fire!