Lockdown

It has been a busy time around here, so it has been a while since my last entry. Walter Dean Myers loves to write about the experiences of inner city youth, and the challenges they face. In the book Lockdown he looks closely at the life of Reese during the time he is in a juvenile detention facility. Reese's comes from a bad neighborhood and a bad family situation, and during his time at the Progress facility he is forced to look at his life and make some serious decisions about its direction. With the guidance of prison officials and a friend he makes while working at a nursing home, his work release position, Reese's life is forever changed. I wasn't sure if I was going to like this story, but I was totally drawn in by the authentic voices of all the characters in the book. Take the time to check this one out!

From Booklist

Myers takes readers inside the walls of a juvenile corrections facility in this gritty novel. Fourteen-year-old Reese is in the second year of his sentence for stealing prescription pads and selling them to a neighborhood dealer. He fears that his life is headed in a direction that will inevitably lead him “upstate,” to the kind of prison you don’t leave. His determination to claw his way out of the downward spiral is tested when he stands up to defend a weaker boy, and the resulting recriminations only seem to reinforce the impossibility of escaping a hopeless future. Reese’s first-person narration rings with authenticity as he confronts the limits of his ability to describe his feelings, struggling to maintain faith in himself; Myers’ storytelling skills ensure that the messages he offers are never heavy-handed. The question of how to escape the cycle of violence and crime plaguing inner-city youth is treated with a resolution that suggests hope, but doesn’t guarantee it. A thoughtful book that could resonate with teens on a dangerous path. Grades 7-10. --Ian Chipman