Customer Reviews

Among the Betrayed

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Nina is among the many shadow children in her school. She has done nothing wrong in her life, except for being illegal. One day, she woke up in a prison cell, handcuffed to the ground. She finds out that her beloved, Jason, has now betrayed her. Later on she meets a new character who she has called "The Hating Man". He tells her that she has to help him with something or she will soon be killed. Her task is to go into another cell with three other shadow children. She has to find out info about them and see if the truly are shadow children. Later on, she starts talking to them and they become kind of close. But, they won't tell her anything because they think they are being watched by hidden cameras. Which they weren't. "The Hating Man" was secretly feeding her humungous thanks giving meals, bribing her to try harder. She does'nt have that kind of cold heart, how evil. If he were to find out they were shadow children, he would kill them in an instant. One day while she was talking to him, a gaurd burst through the door. He was holding his neck, the gaurd had been poisoned. "The Hating Man" wasnt paying attention to her. Oddly enough, the keys were sitting right there on the table. She used this opportunity to escape, she grabbed the keys and ran. She opened up the cell and got the three kids. They all escaped together. No one even came looking for them. She told them about the school that she thought was safe, so they could temporarly live there. The younger kids actually knew how to get there. Once they got there, they finally settled in. She discovered a planted garden behind the school. They stole fruits and vegtables during the night. One night, Nina went to pick some more and some one pounced on her. It was Lee. She was dragged off to Mr. Hendricks house not too far away. After talking to him, she saw something. It was "The Hating Man". He was actually Jen Talbot's dad under disguise. The whole jail thing and escape was planned for the safety of them. She had been set up just to see if she could be trusted. Later on she found out everything and was glad she was safe. Well, for now. She later actually agreed to help them. Had Nina just agreed to help fight the population police? Yes, she had. The settings were in the jail building, outside of the Hendricks School, and inside Mr. Hendrick's home. This book was fantastic, and I would definitly recomend this book to anybody that I know!

Nina Idi, who played a part in Among the Imposters, is the main character in this book. It begins after she has been arrested by the population police and put in prison. She is offered the chance to work for the population police by finding out information from three illegal third children who have been arrested. She is to gain their confidence, and when they tell her what their real names are, any other third-children they know of, etc, she is to give that infromation to the population police. If she dosen't do it, she will be put to death. She dosen't want to betray them, but she dosen't want to die either. Finally, she manages to escape, and takes the three other children with her. She plans for them to go to the woods between the school she used to go to before she was arrested, and the boy's school, where they can grow food and hide. They get there safely, but then Nina realizes that she has no idea how to plant a garden. Then they find a garden someone has planted in the woods, and begin stealing food from it. However, one night, Nina goes to get food, and gets caught....I won't tell any more, 'cause I don't want to spoil the end. It's a pretty good book. Not as good as Among the Hidden, but I still liked it.

Nina, who thinks of herself as a "ninny" (she hates her new name) for falling in love with Jason, who it is proven has betrayed her in hopes of saving his own skin, faces a new dilemma when she realizes her nightmare is reality and she wakes up on a hard, damp prison floor with her hands handcuffed: should she take the "deal" which is offered to her by a Population Police interrogator who she has named "The Hating One," and betray three young exnays (illegal third children), or should she die? Why not betray these children, she sometimes wonders - after all, no one made any moves to come to HER defense, and these kids don't seem to want anything to do with her. Nina struggles with losing her identity as Elodie, as well - as Elodie, she was someone precious and protected. As Nina, she's just an abandoned ninny. Nina decides to at least pretend to go along with the hating one's "deal," though she really doesn't want to. When a chance to escape presents itself, Nina debates whether to take the three children with her. She fears they will only slow her down, but if she doesn't take them, they will surely die because the hating one has only given her 24 hours to betray them. The children's escape leads to a startling discovery about who exactly is betraying (as well as who is protecting) whom, and why.

The book Among the Betrayed was a really good book about a thirteen year old girl named Nina, she is a third child. In the place she lives at third children are not allowed, and if they are born the population police will come and take them. One day while she was at school the population police did come and take her. They brought her to a dark, cold cell. Nina soon finds out they don't know that she really is a third child, but they arrested her because the population police say Nina and her boyfriend tricked them into arresting children that really were not third children just so her and her boyfriend could get a reward. The Population Police then make her a deal. She could save herself from getting executed and help them into tricking three children into admitting that they are third children or she could die. Will Nina choose her life or the kids?
I REALLY liked this book a lot. I would not stop reading it because I always wanted to find out the decisions she makes. A reason I liked this book was because there was always action. All the time the characters were doing something to keep you reading. Also this book was a lot about life or death situations. I like those kinds of books. There was nothing wrong with this book.
The people who would like this book are the people that like books about life or death situations. That is what the whole book was practically based on. Also the people that have read the other books to this series would like this one. This one is a lot like those. If you have read other books from Margarett Peterson Haddix, you should like this one. I know I did!!

Among the Hidden is an excellent book.If you have never read this book you should. If you were reading it you would've never guessed the ending. It took me by surprise. Thise book is mostly about Nina. She is suppose to betray three kids that got caught by the population police and she is suppose to get them to talk. she is really suppose to get them to tell her if they are really thrid childrens with a fake I.D's. If she dosen't the population police will kill her. What do you think? Will she betray them to save her life? You have to read the book to find out.

This book is just fine, but definitely not as good as its predecessors ("Among the Hidden" and "Among the Imposters"). The story turns slightly from the original story which we were introduced to in the first two books by shifting the focus onto a new main character, Nina (Elodie) instead of Lee (Luke). This would have been fine except that I didn't find her character nearly as interesting as Luke. Not only that, but Nina is constantly bemoaning a failed romance, which is annoying and overblown (you just want to slap her and tell her to get a life). Over the course of reading the first two books I've become rather attached to Luke and missed learning more about him. While he is mentioned near the end of the novel, his presence is really minor...and sorely missed. The plot of this book is also a bit more transparent then the first two books, it did not surprise me or keep me on my toes, I could see the end before it happened. However, the plot still leaves open the room for more sequels so there is hope for another book in the future that is better then this one. "Among the Betrayed" is a fine effort and I recommended it if you have enjoyed "Among the Hidden" and "Among the Imposters", but don't expect it to be as good.

"Among the Betrayed" is the third novel in Haddix's Shadow Children series about a future where families are forbidden to have more than two children. Unlike the first two books in the series, the Lee Grant/Luke Garner character is not the main character. This time around, Haddix takes the perspective of Nina Idi (real name Elodie), a third child who has lived the majority of her life with her grandmother and three elderly aunts before being sent to the Harlow School for Girls where her darkest nightmares await her.

The novel begins with Nina finding herself under arrest by the Population Police for having taken part in a plot to betray her country or so they tell her. Nina fears for her life so when she is offered the opportunity to live she jumps at the chance. Her task is to make three other shadow children confess their background information without them suspecting she is doing so. However, Nina finds the task much harder to carry out than expected, and when a chance to escape comes along, Nina hopes that she can trust the three other shadow children she shares a cell with. But nothing is as it seems in Nina's newfound world and she is unprepared for the challenges of surviving in the outside world, especially with the Population Police looking for her.

"Among the Betrayed" is slightly darker than the previous two novels in the series, especially at the beginning of the book where Nina is imprisoned and tortured. This may make the book more suitable for older readers than younger ones. Nina also isn't as likable a character as Lee Grant/Luke Garner, but readers will be curious to learn the backgrounds of the three mysterious shadow children Nina meets in jail. As usual, this Shadow Children novel is a fast-paced read that is difficult to put down and it offers readers some unique surprises.

Red Herrings abound in this addition to the "Shadow Children" series. While the plot revolves around one's oportunity to betray, the plot goes in un expected directions. While this makes an exciting read, it left holes in the plot.

This is the first book in the series which does not center around the Luke/Lee Grant character. Some readers may be confused by his absence if they go into the book without reading a preview. Instead the centers around Nina, who was tied to the turncoat Jim from the second book. Nina is asked to prove her loyalty by tricking other shadow children into confessing. Being a shadow child herself, this mission presents a moral conflict.

As the plot carries beyond the initial description, one is struck by the level of naivity in Nina. With all of the opportunities presented to her, it is hard to believe that she did not suspect alternative motives in the population police. Even for a young adult book, the bar for suspending disbelief is set low.

In the scope of this on-going plot, readers should read the first two books in the series to better appreciate this one. After reading the first three books, I am looking forward to reading other books in the series.

10/11/06
The book I am reading is called among the betrayed. The author is Margaret Peterson Haddix. The genre is fiction. The book took place in a prison for third children. It about a girl named Nina. She is a third child. A third child is a kid that was a born after two kids before them. So she got betrayed by a boy named Jason or she think she did. So she got arrested by the population police. When she got there she had to talk to one police officer. He was trying to make a deal with Nina. The deal was for her to go under cover for the population police. If she refused they would kill her. So she said yes. The main characters are Nina, Percy, Matthias, and Alia. She would soon meet up with them in a prison cell. She needs to find out every thing about them, before she runs out of time. That's as much I could tell you. You have to read the rest by your self. I recommend this book to people that like mysteres and action books.


By: Junior Galan

BOOK REVIEW: AMONG THE BETRAYED
Among the Betrayed, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, is part of a series that is about shadow children. Shadow children are children who exceed the two child limit. In Among the Betrayed, a shadow child named Elodie Luria (who's fake name was Nina Idi) was born and raised with her grandma and aunts. She was falsely accused and arrested for being a traitor that turned in shadow children.
While in jail, she makes a deal with a person who she referred as "the hating man". She is to go into a cell with three other illegal shadow children and try to earn their trust to prove that they are really shadow children for her freedom. As time goes by Elodie starts to regret what she is doing and escapes out of the prison with the three kids and to start a new life.
This book is influential to me because it helps me realize that in this world there are people who go through very tough times but somehow manage to get by. It shows me that sometimes in life, there are certain choices that you have to make on your own and depending on the options, they could change your life dramatically. Before I read this book, I knew it was going to be a book that I would enjoy because I also enjoyed the previous book called Among the Hidden. After I read this book, I achieved a better understanding of the series and it provided me with a better interest of these books.
This book tells me that all people have different opinions and have different behaviors in this world. For example, in Among the Betrayed, there are the population police (who arrest illegal shadow children) and there are people who try to help the illegal shadow children start new lives as regular children so they do not have to hide from the population police. Everyone has their own opinion of what is right and wrong and how to change things. From this story, I have learned not to judge others from their covers because even though people are given a title it is not always, how they are like. For example, if a person is given a title that they are a bully because they are big it does not always mean that person is a bully. The person could be a nice and kind hearted.
The style of Among the Betrayed there was a lot of figurative language. The text was descriptive and helped me understand the settings and scenes of the story a lot better. The book contained numerous short paragraphs and chapters, which contained plentiful amounts of dialogue. Overall, I would recommend this book as well as the entire series to anyone who is looking for a good and exciting book.