Among the Hidden/Among Imposters - Marga...

           The book "Among the Impostors" was about a boy who lives illegally.  In this book, due to famine and other problems, third children are illegal and the discovery of their existence is punishable by torture and death by the government.  The main character Luke is a third child.  He is starting school however at Hendricks, it takes a lot of fake paperwork, fake ID's, the help of a government official, and the risk of getting caught by the population police.  When he starts at his school he is confused and frustrated, almost a month into the school he doesn't have any friends, know what correct class to go to, or anything else.  One day he follows a group into the woods and finds out they are also third children.  He reveals himself and is relieved to finally have a group to belong to and talk to, he now has friends. However, much later Luke over hears the leader of his group of friends Jason talking to the population police.  He is a spy for them and is planning on turning in all of the third children in.  Luke plans carefully and manages to make Jason unconscious, strap him down in the nurses office, and use code to tell Mr. Talbot the government worker hes associated with about Jason.  Because of this Mr. Talbot arrests Jason and his secret partner claiming the reason is because they are third children.  Luke later finds out that Hendricks school is aware of the high population of third children and is used to help them become more open to society.

               This book connects to me because I remember when I was starting school it was also hard for me to blend in and get accustomed however, like in the book later on it got better.  This book connects to the book I read "Wonder" by Raquel J. Palacio because in both books the main character is first starting school and have a hard time fitting in.  Also the main characters make friends and are later betrayed by them.  This book makes a connection with the world because in some countries there are two- child policies such as China and Iran.  Although the policy between the book and those specific countries are the same, I don't think the punishments to the discovery of third children are the same.

             I would highly recommend others to read this book.  I also found the first book in this series interesting and entertaining.  I recommend this book because not only will the ending surprise you it makes you think a lot about the two-policy in other countries, and how might other children feel living in fear.  People who enjoy mysteries, action, and adventures with heroes; will definitely like this book.      

Each "article" consists of two or more pages of comics. There are seven sections in the Bibliography at the end of the book, and multiple sources are listed under each topic section. Multiple artists create the comics, so the style of artwork changes throughout the book. (All of the above is true for all the Big Book of Comics. Or all the ones I've read, anyway.)

I'm not sure exactly how to rate this on a scale of "how everyone else rates books" - mainly because all comics/graphic novels are sort of a special category for me. It's not that I wasn't allowed to buy comics when I was little - it's just that my parents really wanted me to read "real" books instead, and never had any problem providing me with more of them. So they weren't forbidden, just rare, and I somehow didn't go to many stores that sold them. When I did and found one I wanted, it was a special sort of treat. And so now there's still a fun sort of thrill for me when I read comics of any kind.

Of course the Big Book Of series aren't children's comics - the titles alone make that fairly clear. The whole series picks up on the "strange but true" sorts of facts that have always made interesting stories. 

Like all the Big Book Of comics there's really too much content here for me to cover everything - so I'll just pass along the table of contents. For those of you who can't wait for the book to learn the hoax information (and the sections sound interesting enough so that I know I'd be in that group myself) - I've added links (most are to wikipedia, if there was an entry) so you can absorb some odd history.

Contents:

1) The Art of the Hoax
Fritz Kreisler: Manufacturing Musical Masterpieces (wiki)
Billy Tipton's Secret (wiki)
Alceo Dossena: The Man Who Made Genuine Fakes (wiki)
Elmer de Hory (wiki)
The "Autobiography" of Howard Hughes (wiki)
The Hitler Diaries (wiki)
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion (wiki)