Lockdown

Lockdown is the powerful tale of fourteen-year-old Reese Anderson, who has spent 22 months in a tiny cell at a “progress center.” Living in fear and isolation, Reese begins looking within himself to find a way out of the prison system.

Acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers offers an honest story about finding a way to make it without getting lost in the shuffle. Told with compassion and truth, Lockdown is also a compelling first-person read that "could resonate with teens on a dangerous path."*

When I first got to Progress, it freaked me out to be locked in a room and unable to get out. But after a while, when you got to thinking about it, you knew nobody could get in, either.

It seems as if the only progress that's going on at Progress juvenile facility is moving from juvy jail to real jail. Reese wants out early, but is he supposed to just sit back and let his friend Toon get jumped? Then Reese gets a second chance when he's picked for the work program at a senior citizens' home. He doesn't mean to keep messing up, but it's not so easy, at Progress or in life. One of the residents, Mr. Hooft, gives him a particularly hard time. If he can convince Mr. Hooft that he's a decent person, not a criminal, maybe he'll be able to convince himself.

Walter Dean Myers was a New York Times bestselling author, Printz Award winner, five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, two-time Newbery Honor recipient, and the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Maria Russo, writing in the New York Times, called Myers "one of the greats and a champion of diversity in children’s books well before the cause got mainstream attention."

*Kirkus

• Intergenerational Friendship: Reese just wants to do his job at the senior home, but a difficult resident named Mr. Hooft—a man with a harrowing past of his own—might be the one person who can teach him what it means to survive.
• Moral Complexity: Getting an early release means keeping his head down. But when his younger friend Toon is targeted by a gang, Reese must choose between his own freedom and doing what’s right.
• Realistic Teen Fiction: A gripping, honest look inside a juvenile detention center where the only thing harder than doing the time is finding a reason to hope.
• Social Justice for Teens: From legendary author Walter Dean Myers, a powerful novel that explores the challenges facing troubled youth and the humanity found in unexpected places.