Among the Barons (Paperback)

Among the Barons by Margaret Peterson Haddix is the fourth book in the series of shadow books. The book is about a third child named Luke Gardner who gets a fake i.d. to become Lee Grant. Luke attends Hendricks School for Boys. After six months, Lee's real brother, Smits, goes to Luke's school. Smits arrives at Hendricks in a limo and he has a bodyguard named Oscar. Luke shows his "brother" Smits around Hendricks. Smits acts like the schoool which is a special school for the barons class isn't fancy. Smits tries to get Oscar fired because Smits doesn't want a bodyguard. Smits starts a fire in Hendricks and blames Oscar. After the fire, Luke finds two fake i.d. cards. They cause him to wonder who they belong to. In the meantime, Smits, Luke and Oscar go home to the Grants' house because the Grants say that want to watch over their children. Luke meets Mr. and Mrs. Grant and goes to Lee's room which is clean and very organized. Around midnight, the Grants talk to Luke about staging his death as Lee because the Grants are being blackmailed for Lee's illegal activities. On that same night, Oscar wakes up Luke and tells him about a secret resistance force that is fighting against the Barons. The Grants die when a huge chandelier falls on them. Luke then takes Smits home to his own family and Smits begins to live with Luke's family.
I enjoyed this book because I like science fiction. I also liked this book because it had some humor. A humorous line is when a boy said, "The new boy brought 4 suitcases, his own computer and a giant TV."
I also liked this book because it keeps you reading. For instance, when Oscar says, "Watch out for the chandelier," it made me want to keep reading to find out what was going to happen with the chandelier. The author made me want to read on and it was surprising to find out what happens next to Luke.
My favorite part of the story was when Smits comes to Hendricks. I liked this part because Smits was a man in a boys' body because he acted like a businessman. It was also my favorite part because of all the rumors being spread about Smits such as his reported gourmet meals being sent in from a restaurant in a city 1 hour away from the school.