![]() Jen’s stepfather offers him a fake ID card, which will allow him to start a new life away from his family. From that, they will deduce that another Shadow child lives close by and will search the neighborhood until they find Luke. Worse, they were now closely monitoring the chat room, and Luke’s search there has triggered an alarm that will surely lead them to Jen’s house. ![]() Jen is dead - the government shot all 40 of the protestors - and hid all evidence of them and the rally. Luke explains who he is and how he knew Jen, but her stepfather has devastating news. Suddenly, however, Jen’s stepfather enters the room with a gun, demanding to know who he is and what he is doing in their house. She is not there, so Luke signs on to the secret chat room, but it, too, is empty. Finally, hoping to learn something, he breaks into her house, disarming the security code as she taught him. Luke waits for news in the days to follow, but hears nothing - either on the radio or from Jen in person. She apologizes for the way she treated him, thanks him for being a good friend and says goodbye before leaving for the rally. One night he awakens with a start to find her in his room. ![]() Ultimately though, he just misses her and the camaraderie they shared. Luke wrestles with his emotions - alternating between anger at Jen and the fear that her allegations of cowardice are true. She tries to convince him otherwise, but once she realizes that he won’t join her, she orders him out of her house. However, Luke can’t bring himself to join her. Jen assumes Luke will join her at the rally and makes plans accordingly. She plans a rally outside the president’s home, hoping that she, and at least 800 other Shadow children she knows, will shame the government into granting them freedom. Jen is counting on the power of a protest to help change the government’s policy. ![]() Their visits bring a new dimension to his life, but one that he can’t share with his family. Jen and Luke devise a system where he can visit with her regularly. Jen introduces him to the wider world, filling him in on not only what is happening in society, but why (response to a food crisis) and how to beat the system (mainly bribes). Luke and his family are completely cowed by fear of the government, but Jen is brazen in her disdain for them. Luke’s family is poor, but hers is shockingly rich. She is sophisticated and technologically savvy, where Luke is socially isolated and simple. Inside he finds the neighbors’ third child is a girl named Jen, one year older than he is. Instead of running back to his own house, he pushes his fist through the screen, unlatches the door and lets himself in. When he finds the sliding screen locked, he panics. One day, after weeks of careful observation and planning, he sneaks over to their house, expecting to slip inside the side door. Doing so, he makes the surprising discovery that one of their neighbors appears to have a third, hidden child as well. Longing for contact with the outside world, he regularly watches the new neighborhood through vents in the attic walls. Slowly the isolation the family has been playacting begins to affect the reality of their relationships as well.īeing largely confined to the attic, and alone much of the day, Luke gets cabin fever. This means he can’t join his family at the table for meals, and it becomes difficult for him to carry on a conversation with them from the attic steps. First he is unable to go outside, then even into a room with windows (because suspicions are raised by closed window shades). Meanwhile, Luke is increasingly limited in his activities. Then she tries to squeeze a day’s worth of chores into the evenings, after working 12-hour shifts. With less income and access to food, along with higher bills, Luke’s mom must take a factory job to help make ends meet. Large, new houses in the area mean their own family’s farmland increases in value, which sounds good, but also means an increase in their property tax. The government decides that Luke’s family can no longer raise pigs in addition to their crops, because the smell will offend their wealthy new neighbors. Luke can no longer go outside - it’s not safe with so many new neighbors. This starts a chain reaction that puts increasing pressure on Luke and his family. When his family is forced to sell part of their property to the government, a new neighborhood springs up behind their house. Luke’s family lives on a farm, where isolation and a ready food supply have helped hide Luke. Only two children are allowed in each family - additional children are usually prevented from being born or are killed. Luke is the third child in his family, the youngest of three brothers, which makes him illegal.
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