#30 in Dystopian
Among the Barons
- 182
- Pages
- about 3.5 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“Among the Barons” is a tense middle-grade dystopia that deepens Luke’s story in the fourth Shadow Children book. It is set in a society that uses harsh measures to curb overpopulation. Some readers feel closer to Luke and to Smits here than in earlier volumes, and find the tangle of loyalties near the end confusing but well resolved. Under two hundred pages long, it is for young readers following the series.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Among the Barons is a 2003 middle grade dystopian novel by American writer Margaret Peterson Haddix, about a time in which drastic measures have been taken to quell overpopulation. It is the fourth of seven novels in the Shadow Children series.
Reading order · Shadow Children
Full order & progress →
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.3 across 56 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 28% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Dystopian average of 7.7. That is how 7.9 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.7 | 9 | 16% |
| Google Books | 9.0 | 6 | 11% |
| Hardcover | 8.1 | 41 | 73% |
Frequently asked
What age is Among the Barons for?
Among the Barons sits on the Middle grade shelf in the sources we use, which by convention means roughly ages 8–12. This is a guide from the book’s category, not a publisher’s age rating. It has 182 pages — shorter than 92% of the ranked books in Dystopian.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Dystopian — with scores between 7.1 and 8.0, closest to this book.
