Among the Barons is a 2003 young adult science fiction novel by American writer Margaret Peterson Haddix, about a time in which drastic measures have been taken to quell overpopulation.

The Grants are Barons, meaning that they belong among the super-elite class, which hoards most of the country's resources and controls the government.

Accompanied by a bodyguard named Oscar, he sullenly agrees, still distraught over the loss of his brother, embittered by the substitution of Luke, which he sees as a decision to replace the real Lee.

Having lost their son, but being unable to publicly mourn his death, they intend to backtrack and announce it, after all, throwing Luke back into the darkness.

He soon suspects that the Grants gave him a new chance at life not acting out of altruism, but rather in a long-term gamble to stage a different death for a fake Lee.

The party is attended by many of the government's most prominent leaders, including its president, who is credited with beginning the war that installed the Population Police, leading to widespread atrocities.