Among the Hidden

Luke's outdoor freedoms are stripped away as developers clear the woods. He is confined first to the house, then to the attic, as new families move into the neighborhood.

Luke methodically observes the new neighborhood from his attic vent, counting family members in each house, and discovers an impossible face in a window where no one should be home.

Luke summons the courage to sneak into the neighboring house and meets Jen Talbot, a defiant, internet-connected shadow child who shatters his understanding of his own situation.

Through repeated visits to Jen, Luke learns about politics, history, and the underground resistance. Jen begins planning a rally of shadow children to demand their rights publicly.

Luke and Jen clash over the rally. Luke refuses to attend, torn between loyalty to Jen and fear for his life. Jen departs for the rally without him, and Luke is left waiting in agony.

Luke learns that the rally was a massacre. All the shadow children who attended, including Jen, were killed by the Population Police. Luke is shattered by grief and guilt.

Mr. Talbot provides Luke with a fake ID under the name Lee Grant. Luke must decide whether to abandon his identity and his family to enter the visible world.

Luke assumes the identity of Lee Grant and walks out the front door of his house for the first time in his life, stepping into a world that does not know he exists.