Among the Betrayed

Among the Betrayed is a 2002 young adult speculative fiction novel by American author Margaret Peterson Haddix. The third book in the Shadow Children series, it chronicles the lives of a few children in a dystopian future America, in which a fascist government is installed to control overpopulation. Straying from the series’ typical point of view of Luke Garner, it follows a female protagonist Nina Idi, a shadow child who was arrested by the Population Police and betrayed by her friend at the end of the previous novel, Among the Impostors. As her parents’ third child, Idi’s existence is illegal, and she struggles to survive by determining whom and whom not to trust, navigating a near-apocalyptic American society where wealth is concentrated in the hands of very few.

The novel first contextualizes Nina Idi and the path she took to gaining her name. Born as Elodie Luria, she once lived in a boring but comfortable home with her grandmother and her three surviving aunts, her parents having been taken by the government after breaking the population law. Because the Population Police search constantly and ruthlessly for shadow children, Elodie was effectively imprisoned in her family’s house for her young life. Pitying her incomplete existence, her aunts and grandmother saved up enough money to buy a fake identification card, and form the fake name “Nina Idi.” They enroll her at Harlow School for Girls, a state-run school ostensibly attended by only legal children. While at Harlow, she falls in love with Jason Barstow from the nearby Hendricks School for Boys. Soon, she sets her sights on finding other shadow children living under false identities, entrusting Jason to help her. She is ultimately taken away by the Population Police after Jason reveals that she is a shadow child, having been a spy for the Population Police the entire time.

Nina awakes in a cell in the Population Police’s barracks. A high-ranked officer whom she calls The Hating Man delivers her an ultimatum: she can convince three other shadow children to expose themselves and turn themselves in in exchange for her life, or be executed on the spot. Indecisive, she is sent to a communal cell. Here, she meets three shadow children named Alia, Percy, and Matthias who are between six and ten years old. Found homeless on the streets, they are practically destined to die of neglect. Knowing this, Nina tries to juggle keeping an emotional distance while retaining her humanity by helping them when she can. Meanwhile, she tries to emotionally heal from Jason’s treachery while faced with the ethical choice of whether to betray or protect the identities of her cellmates.



Nina rejects repeating Jason’s criminal action, instead, helping the three children escape. She makes her way with them to Hendricks School for Boys, where they plan to rescue the other shadow children still in attendance. They stake out a hiding spot next to the school gardens that Lee Grant planted back when Nina attended Harlow School for Girls. Lee Grant, along with his classmate Trey, discovers them, believing that Nina had helped Jason with his crimes on behalf of the Population Police. Nina attempts to sacrifice herself by letting them take her hostage, urging Alia, Percy, and Matthias to escape. Refusing her command, they stay by her side.

Soon, The Hating Man arrives, ostensibly to take them all in to be executed. In a surprise twist, he reveals that his real name is Mr. Talbot, and he is a spy for the rebels of the fascist American government who pretends to work for the Population Police. He had challenged Nina as a test of her moral integrity, observing her decisions when she was placed with the three young children and confirming whether she was actually a shadow child. After telling Nina that she has passed the test, Mr. Talbot informs her that Jason is a double agent like himself, and is still alive, despite recent rumors about his death. As the book closes, Nina vows to help the rebels in their campaign to end the Population Police.

A highly suspenseful novel, Among the Betrayed postulates a future world where a population crisis has dismantled much of America’s moral norms and replaced them with ruthless and dehumanizing laws. Despite this dystopian situation, Nina represents the possibility of reclaiming moral goodness and striving to form a new political solidarity that can overthrow the regime in power.