Monday, May 3, 2010

Spread the Awesome!

Photobucket
to Spread the Awesome!


Elana Johnson had the inspired idea to organize a one-day blog series where participating bloggers choose a book which they love, to promote by sharing its merits with the rest of you!  Isn't she brilliant?  I've chosen Among the Hidden, by Margaret Peterson Haddix.

Spread the Awesome blog series is organized as a round-robin, so that once you've finished here you can click the link at the end of this post to go to the next participating blog. 

Enter MY CONTEST at the bottom of this post to win a cool prize!


Margaret Peterson Haddix describes the plot of Among the Hidden on her website like this:

    "Luke has never been to school. He's never had a birthday party, or gone to a friend's house for an overnight. In fact, Luke has never had a friend.

    Luke is one of the shadow children, a third child forbidden by the Population Police. He's lived his entire life in hiding, and now, with a new housing development replacing the woods next to his family's farm, he is no longer even allowed to go outside.

    Then, one day Luke sees a girl's face in the window of a house where he knows two other children already live. Finally, he's met a shadow child like himself. Jen is willing to risk everything to come out of the shadows--does Luke dare to become involved in her dangerous plan? Can he afford not to?"



I was introduced to Among the Hidden after my fourth grade daughter read it for her school library's Battle of the Books challenge.  Sidney loved it, saying the characters were people she really cared about. She said the ending was "so good!" and couldn't wait for me to finish so we could talk about it.  She only had to wait one day.  I devoured this book!


Haddix's story is fast-paced and full of suspense.  I was pulled into her world to contemplate what it would be like living in a society where free will was abolished, and cruel government policies trumped parental decision-making.  The story spurred lengthy discussions, as Sidney and I talked about the possible consequences of over-population and depletion of natural resources, both within the context of the book and in our real lives.  I reminded her that the book was purely fictional, but that the themes of restricted free will and strict government control were valid topics to consider.


We are both working our way through the rest of the seven book series.  The titles of all the Shadow books are:


Among the Hidden
Among the Imposters
Among the Betrayed
Among the Barons
Among the Brave
Among the Enemy
Among the Free

Among the Hidden, as well as the other books in the Shadow series, is recommended for children in grades 5-8 (reading level 9-12).

Please be sure to visit the next blog on today's Spread the Awesome blog series:
the lovely B.J. Anderson

For a list of all bloggers participating in today's Spread the Awesome series, CLICK HERE!


~Before You Go!~

It's contest time!  There are seven books in Margaret Peterson Haddix's Shadow series.  I'm giving away one new copy of Among the Hidden AND a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble, to get you started on the rest of the collection (or any another book of your choice!).

~To ENTER~

You must be a follower :)  Simply leave me a comment below AND leave B.J. a comment on her blog!  Drawing will be Friday, May 7th at noon, EST. Winner will be announced shortly after.
Everyone is eligible to win, including Spread the Awesome participants!



73 comments:

Unknown said...

Okay so I get on the blog today and I'm seeing all the love being spread!!! These books look awesome and what an awesome way to start a Monday!

Anne Gallagher said...

That sounds like a totally awesome book. Thanks for sharing Nicole.

I'm so looking forward to Monster Baby learning to finally read. I so want to share with her my love for books. I just hope she 'gets' it.

Great contest, thanks.

India Drummond said...

What a great idea for a contest! I tried to follow your blog, but the little box seems to be broken just now, so I'll try again later.

Vicki Rocho said...

Like the concept of this book, miht have to add it to the list.

My kids suck me into their books all the time!

Unknown said...

Great call, Nicole
This was the last series of books I found via the library. This was during the too poor to buy phase of my life - it made reading one two and three all the more challenging - the desperate wait for the library to source and transport books to my home library. The waiting in between made me live the books all the more.

Aubrie said...

Okay, I left her a comment!
This looks like a great series. :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Sounds like a fun blog fest.

Anonymous said...

Great review, Nicole!!

Jaydee Morgan said...

Woo hoo - here's to finding so many new books to read :)

Summer Frey said...

That book sounds right up my alley. I loved reading stuff like that when I was younger.

Great review-fest! I'm enjoying all the entries so far.

Travener said...

My kids blasted through all the books in the series in a matter of weeks. Kept them quiet on a trip down to Tucson and back when we visited grandpa a couple of years ago.

Natalie said...

Ooo, this sounds really good! (And it's MG!)

Kelly said...

I would love to win this for my classroom library! Please enter me! I left a comment for B.J. on her awesomeness post. :D
kghobbs@gmail.com

Jayne said...

Done! And been to BJ's blog and commented there too. Please enter me! :)

It is so great finding out about authors and books I haven't come across before. I like the concept of these books, and the series titles - they give a real taste of what is to come. Thank you for highlighting them!

Angie said...

Sounds like a great series!

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

Oh my word, I loved this series!! I had to special order them in the UK. I bought the first one to use for homeschooling as it had come recommended, and I fell in love with it, and both my daughter and I couldn't wait to get our hands on the others. It was so well written and just sucked me in. What an original premise!

And what a great contest! Yay! I'll be sure to go check out BJ's blog and comment there, too.

B.J. Anderson said...

You are so awesome!! And I've been wanting to read these for some time, so I'll have to just get it done. Great review. :D

Courtney Barr - The Southern Princess said...

okay! I am so excited to discover this series!!!

Please enter me ;o)

I am loving this blog tour today!!

Visit My Kingdom Anytime

Sarah Ahiers said...

Yay! Excitement!
Please enter me into the drawing, i'm on my way to BJs blog right now!

Unknown said...

sounds like a great book. I'd love to read it!

Suzette Saxton said...

AWESOME contest. Totally count me in! I have wanted to read this book for a very long time.

MBW aka Olleymae said...

Sounds like an awesome series. I'll have to check it out. I love it when kids get passionate about a book. Those are the stories I want to study!!

Talli Roland said...

This 'Spread the Awesome' is such a great idea! I wish I'd got my act together and participated, but I'm enjoying reading about everyone else's books!

The series sounds really interesting. Thanks, Nicole!

Angie Paxton said...

You know before I started this blogging thing I used to go to the library and sort of listlessly drift down the aisles. Now I have a list ten thousand books long, that just keeps getting longer and I can't wait to get to the library. Thanks for another great reccomendation.

Michelle McLean said...

wonderful review! Sounds like an awesome series :D

Taffy said...

I think one of my kids brought this home from school. I'll have to ask them. Thanks for the review.
I'm a follower.
And now, to B.J.s blog!

Amy Holder said...

Wow - this one sounds REALLY good! I'll have to check out the series and B.J.'s blog!

Yamile said...

This is a great review! I want to read this book right now!
Thanks for the chance to win it!
I have a "Spread the Awesome" contest in my blog too, for an opportunity to win Carlos Zafon's THE SHADOW OF THE WIND. It expires tomorrow!

Shannon Messenger said...

New follower *waves* :)

I don't know HOW I hadn't heard of these books before but thank you so much for pointing them out. They sound amazing, and as a MG writer, I love reading new books at that reading level. Thanks for spreading the awesome.

Off to B.J.'s blog. *weeeee*

Jai Joshi said...

Thanks for the book recommendation. I love this spread the awesome idea!

Jai

Janna Leadbetter said...

Nicole, I love that you're a literary fiction writer! Very exciting, and I can't wait to see more from you.

Thanks for the awesome! And for visiting my blog today. :)

Sherrie Petersen said...

Among the Hidden gave me chills. It was such a good book. I haven't read the others in the series yet though.

Christine Fonseca said...

GREAT SERIES!!! A student of mine recently turned me on to these. Love them. And great contest too!

Janet Johnson said...

I loved the whole series. I hated waiting for her the finish writing them. Awesome taste. :)

Kelsey (Dominique) Ridge said...

Oh my god, I did not even know there were 7 books in that series. I thought it was just the first three. I now have an incredible compulsion to read the final four. Wow.

Stina said...

Woo hoo! Another great book to read. I bet my kids would love this series. :D

Riv Re said...

I'd love to win this! I commented on BJ's post, and I follow you!
rivkarno1(at)hotmail(dot)com

Christina Lee said...

THAT looks like a great series!!

Shelley Sly said...

Ooh, I read that book ages ago, when a friend loaned it to me and insisted I *had* to read it. I remember it was very good, but I'm sad to say I don't remember ALL of it. Which means I'll read it again!

Bethany Wiggins said...

Thanks! This sounds awesome... and now off to Bonny's blog.

Shannon O'Donnell said...

I have a few of these in my classroom library, but I haven't read them yet. You've convinced me that I need to get on it! :-)

off to comment on B.J.'s blog. LOL!

Tiffany Neal said...

I heart Among the Hidden. It is the first book I read aloud to my students every year. It gets them so hooked on reading!! :)

Larissa said...

Ooh! I'd never heard of this one, but it sounds really interesting. Thanks! :)

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Follower here and I'm making the rounds of all the awesome bloggers (whew!) I'd love to win the book. In fact, I picked it up once in a bookstore, intrigued, and then for some reason didn't buy it. Silly me.

Unknown said...

Great contest - I love hearing about new books! :)

Laura S. said...

Wow, these books sound super awesome! I've added them to my to-read list. I really enjoy middle-grade novels. People are missing out if they don't read them because of the age they're targeted.

Thanks for sharing, Nicole!

Kelly Polark said...

What an interesting premise! Thank you for the book rec. I am always looking for new books for my fifth grader!!

Angela Ackerman said...

It is so good to see a MG on the list! I hope I win it!

Corinne O said...

Enter me please, I am following and heading to BJ's right now...

:)

Corinne

Elana Johnson said...

I bought this book to give away and still haven't read it. You've inspired me to do that before I give it away! Great contest, too, BTW.

Roland D. Yeomans said...

One of the terrible things about being a harried blood courier is that often I miss out on neat ideas like this.

Thanks, Nicole, for sharing this great sounding book with all of us.

Ever hear of the Dali-Rama? Come by my blog and see what all the fuss is about. Roland

Nichole Giles said...

My daughter--who is not a big reader--read this at school and came home raving about it. What better review is there than a 12 YO who doesn't normally read but can't get enough?

Yeah. I had to read it too. It was very good. I need to get the next in the series now. Thanks for the review.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a fabulous book - I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for it :)

Hannah said...

I've had that series on my list for years but now it will get bumped since you highly recommend it.

I would love a chance to win stuff! Now I'm off to BJs.

Jessica Bell said...

Fantastic! I'm in :) Will head over to B.J's now too! xoxo

Liza said...

This "Round Robin" is great. Thank you for participating.

Mary E Campbell said...

oooh very creepy - my son would probably love these.

Jeanne Ryan (Serenissima) said...

The book sounds intense. Makes me think about the one-child policy in China.

Unknown said...

Ooh! This sounds like a great series and your review was awesome. Can't wait to read them now!

Jenn Adams said...

Sounds like an awesome series. I would love to win a book.

Tana said...

I haven't heard of this book, thanx it really does sound awesome!

Julie Dao said...

I have never heard of this book, but I'm slowly switching back to YA and MG books to read for pleasure, so I'll have to add it to my list. :) Thanks for the recommendation, Nicole!

Anonymous said...

OK, this book looks awesome, too! I'm so glad Elana Johnson started this off. And please enter me in your contest! :)

Tina Laurel Lee said...

I have never heard of it! Sounds great. Thanks for the review.

Liz S said...

I've never heard of this book/series before, but sounds great! I'm a follower and I also commented on BJ's blog - sign me up!

Unknown said...

me!meeeeemeee!

(so glad you liked my review and so happy to be a new follower of this blog!)

Roland D. Yeomans said...

So, Nichole, you've only been doing this blogging experience for five months? I'm impressed. I've been at this only three months, and I've still miles to go before I'm within yelling distance of your expertise. Roland

Dawn Simon said...

That sounds like a great book! I love that you and your daughter both read it and then totally talked about it. :)

Lola Sharp said...

Sign me up!!! :)

Hope you're having a great week.

Love,
Lola

Aik said...

I'm a new follower! I'd love to enter your giveaway! Thanks!

aikychien at yahoo dot com

Lisa B. said...

Looks like a great book! I hope I win!

Theresa Milstein said...

I've been eyeing this book, so I hope to win. I'll comment on the other blog now. Thanks!

Cynde L. Hammond said...

Hi, Nicole!

I signed up to become a "follower" of your blog and I sure would appreciate a "follow-back" on my blog, "Cynde's Got The Write Stuff".

Also, this is the comment for your blog, and after this, I'm heading right over to BJ's blog to make a comment.

I have really enjoyed this "Spreading the Awesome" event because I have been able to meet lots of nice people, like you!

Until next visit,
Cynde
"Cynde's Got The Write Stuff"

~Please CLICK HERE...Thanks for having such a GREAT contest~