The only thing better than getting a big check in the mail is getting free books! Thanks, everybody, for sending these fun titles my way. I can't wait to read and review them.

The top two, Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright and Fablehaven by Brandon Mull, came from the former's publicist at Deseret Book. I won American Gods by Neil Gaiman from Chris. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was a win from Katrina. Thanks, again!

What would you do if you discovered a child whose parents kept him hidden in the attic at all times? What if they never allowed him outdoors, forbade him to go to school or anywhere in public, and didn't even set a place for him at the dinner table? What if they denied his existence to even their friends and family? You'd be dialing Child Protective Services, wouldn't you? Now imagine that the child is being hidden away for his own protection. Imagine he is a third child in a world that only allows couples to produce two kids each. Imagine that his discovery could lead to trouble with the government, and possibly even to his death. What do you do now? If you're a member of the Garner family, you pretend you have no son or younger brother.

In Among the Hidden, the first book in the Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix, we meet Luke Garner, a 6-year-old "Third" who doesn't officially exist. He spends most of his time in his house with the shades drawn. Although he's allowed out of his attic bedroom, he must be ready to run for it if anyone should knock on the door. He lives in mortal fear of the Population Police. Fortunately for Luke, his family's hog farm sits in an isolated area, surrounded by heavy woods, so he's at least allowed out into the backyard. That is until the Government decides to plow down the trees and build fancy new homes for the rich "Barons." The Garners panic at the first sight of construction, banishing Luke to the attic; even at meals he is forced to sit on the attic stairs, away from the windows. When the Government decides to stop letting the Garners raise pigs, Luke's mother is forced to take a factory position, leaving Luke home alone all day, without even the backyard as a refuge.

More isolated and lonely than ever, Luke takes to spying on his new neighbors. One day, he makes a shocking discovery - he sees a young face in a window, long after the inhabitants have left for school and work. He knows he's found another Third. Desperate for a friend, Luke creeps out of his house and into his neighbor's home. What he finds is Jen Talbot, a feisty Baron who's not content with hiding out in her house, opulent though it may be. Since Mr. Talbot is a Government employee, the family has access to the Internet, which Jen has used to set up a chat room for other Thirds. Luke is astonished to find that not only is there another Third in his neighborhood, but there are thousands across the nation. Jen is using her computer to gather them for a rally at the president's house. Although Luke wants freedom just as much as Jen does, her rashness scares him. He's putting himself in enough danger just sneaking over to Jen's to hang out. When the rally ends in tragedy, Luke fears that Thirds will never receive the freedom they crave. He knows he can do nothing to change his fate, or can he?

I always find the premises of Haddix's novels interesting. This one is no exception. As a young adult book, this one was too quick to explore all of the moral issues brought up by the premise, but Haddix did a pretty good job tackling them. As always, she couches the big questions (Is it right for the government to control a country's population? How do we evenly distribute goods so that no one goes hungry?) in a taut, action-packed plot. I love that she focuses primarily on the story, letting the moral issues subtly bubble to the surface. Despite these layers, Among the Hidden is still kind of a bare bones novel, so hopefully the sequels will continue to flesh out the story. I'll definitely be reading them to find out what happens to Luke and whether or not he can change the world for himself and the other Shadow Children.

Grade: B

What would you do to be stunningly gorgeous? Undergo a painful operation? Donate a few
brain cells to science? Betray your best friend? These are all dilemmas Tally Youngblood must face in Scott Westerfeld's young adult novel, Uglies.
Tally lives in a future world where all 16-year-olds undergo an operation that turns them from an "Ugly" nobody into a model-perfect "Pretty." Fifteen-year-old Tally has been looking forward to this operation her whole life; she can't wait for the procedure that will erase all her imperfect features and turn her into a knockout. She longs to live in New Pretty Town, where the Pretties spend their lives partying and having fun. When Tally's best friend Peris turns Pretty, she suffers from the most bitter loneliness she's ever known. Determined to find her friend, Tally sneaks into the Pretty part of town only to find that Peris has changed into someone she doesn't recognize - in more ways than one. Once she turns Pretty, she knows they will be able to reconnect. The question is, what in the world is she going to do until then?
The answer arrives in the form of Shay, another Ugly on the brink of her 16th birthday. Shay loves a rush almost as much as Tally. Together, they are a force to be reckoned with, hoverboarding and playing tricks on the incoming Uglies. Tally assumes that they will continue their antics as Pretties, but Shay isn't so sure. In fact, Shay doesn't want to become a Pretty at all. She's happy with her face, happy to be different. She urges Tally to run away with her to a secret colony called The Smoke, where Uglies live freely, hiding from authorities that want to force them to be Pretty.

Although Tally wants to support her friend, she also wants desperately to become a Pretty. Only one thing stands in her way: Shay. Special Circumstances, a special branch of the government, informs Tally that she will not get the operation unless she helps them find Shay and the group of rebels with whom she's now associated. Tally reluctantly takes on the assignment. She's not prepared, however, for what she finds - or who she meets - in The Smoke. Torn between her desire to be Pretty and her new friends, Tally must make dangerous decisions that could jeopardize them all. At the heart of it all looms the question - How far will she go to be Pretty?

I thought the idea of this novel was really interesting, but I didn't end up liking the story as much as I thought I would. The action kept it exciting, but the characters felt flat to me. It also felt a little preachy, like the moral questions were more important to Westerfield than the story. I found myself comparing this author to Margaret Peterson Haddix, who writes on similar themes, but puts the story first, letting her moral questions leak out subtly. I prefer the subtlety. Still, this was a good read. I didn't think it lived up to its hype, but it was good.

Grade: B