Among the Betrayed

Among The Betrayed (2002) is a speculative fiction novel for young adult readers by Margaret Peterson Haddix. The book is the third installment of the Shadow Children series, which consists of seven novels in total. Set in a dystopian future society that resembles the United States, the novel shows the characters’ struggle against a totalitarian government that enforces fascist and dehumanizing laws to control overpopulation and resources. 

Margaret Peterson Haddix is a New York Times bestselling author. She has received several accolades, including the Ohioana Book Award for Juvenile Literature for Uprising (2007) and the Sasquatch award for her novel Found (2008). Her books have been included in the American Library Association’s annual book lists and have won the International Reading Association’s Children’s Book Award. 

This guide is based on the 2002 Simon & Schuster e-book edition. 

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of emotional abuse, physical abuse and child abuse. 

Plot Summary

Nina Idi, the novel’s 13-year-old protagonist, wakes in a cell after being arrested by the Population Police. She is cuffed, chained, and hungry, and she believes she is going to die. She recalls her arrest at the Harlow School for Girls, where nobody defended her. A Population Police officer looked at her hatefully during the arrest—she thinks of him as the “hating man.” The novel later reveals that this man is in fact Mr. Talbot, a secret member of the resistance against the Population Police and the tyrannical Government. Moments later, the same man comes to Nina’s cell and interrogates her. He accuses her of betraying her country and tells her Jason—her friend and love interest—turned her in and is now dead. Nina screams in disbelief.

Later, Nina remembers how Jason invited her and her schoolmates to a secret meeting in the woods. He and his friends from the Hendricks School for boys claimed they were also third children with faked identities, like Nina. Jason spoke passionately about third children’s rights, impressing and inspiring Nina, whose real name is Elodie Luria. Her grandmother and aunts procured a fake ID card for her so she could attend school. 

The “hating man” returns and says Nina and Jason deceived the Population Police by turning in fake third children—he does not seem to know that she is a third child herself. He plays a recording of Jason accusing Nina, leaving her feeling enraged and hurt. Later, he offers her a deal: Her life will be spared if she manages to extract information about three illegal children—Matthias, Percy, and Alia—who were arrested. Nina is conflicted and makes no response, and the man assumes her compliance.

Nina is moved to the children’s dark, filthy cell. The children are suspicious of Nina, and she struggles to connect with them. She also feels guilty about betraying them, noticing that they are younger than her and seem dirty and malnourished. The children say they were arrested in the market and have no parents. 

The “hating man” has several meetings with Nina in an interrogation room, where he quizzes her about the children though Nina has no updates of any significance. Days pass, and he eventually gives her an ultimatum: She has 24 hours to learn the real names of the children and their relatives, or they will all be executed. Just then, another guard stumbles into the room, saying he has been poisoned. In the ensuing confusion, Nina grabs the guard’s keys without the “hating man” noticing. 

Soon after, Nina considers escaping by herself but decides to free the children, too. They are more knowledgeable than she expected and disable the security system. After they escape, Nina suggests hiding out in the woods by her old school, and they make their way there. 

Nina struggles with outdoor survival, unlike the others. One morning, she decides to take a bath in the river and is swept away by the current. Two policemen discover her and begin to question her, but Alia comes to her rescue. She claims they are sisters visiting their grandmother and displays two fake ID cards to the policemen. Afterward, Nina confronts the children, correctly guessing that they previously lived on the streets and produced fake IDs for third children.

The children spend a few happy days in the woods but soon run out of food. Nina recalls a boy named Lee Grant who went to the Hendricks School—he is a good gardener, and she thinks he can help them establish a garden. She suggests finding him, and the children challenge her to go alone. Despite her fears, Nina crosses the woods to Hendricks School, though she cannot locate Lee. On her way back to the children, she stumbles on a vegetable garden. For days, she and the children steal food from the garden to survive. 

One day, however, Lee and his friend Trey catch Nina in the garden and accuse her of working with Jason. They forcefully lead her to a cottage where Mr. Hendricks, a man in a wheelchair, prepares to interrogate Nina. Nina thinks she has been recaptured by the Population Police and panics for the children’s safety. She attacks Mr. Hendricks and escapes. 

Running back to the children, she warns them to escape. She confesses everything to them: Jason’s betrayal, her real name, and the “hating man’s” deal with her. Just then, the “hating man” himself emerges from the woods. Nina thinks the children have betrayed her, but Alia explains that the “hating man” is a double agent—Mr. Talbot—who is secretly working to subvert the Population Police. Mr. Talbot explains that Nina’s arrest, interrogation, and escape were all part of a plan to determine her loyalty. Matthias, Percy, and Alia were in on the plan. Nina passed the test, proving her loyalty to the children. At the novel’s conclusion, Nina decides to join Mr. Talbot’s resistance movement against the Population Police and the tyrannical Government.