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
Publisher: Amistad Books for Young Readers
Published: 02/02/2010
Pages: 256
Weight: 0.61lbs
Size: 7.34h x 5.28w x 0.99d
ISBN: 9780061214806
Age: Young Adult
Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.7
Point Value: 7
Interest Level: Middle Grade Plus
Quiz #/Name: 135792 / Lockdown
Award: National Book Awards - Finalist
Award: Coretta Scott King Award - Honor Book
Award: South Carolina Childrens, Junior and Young Adult Book Award - Nominee
Award: Iowa Teen Award - Nominee
Review Citation(s):
Booklist 12/01/2009 pg. 38
Kirkus Review - Children 01/01/2010 pg. 46
Publishers Weekly 01/11/2010 pg. 49
Voice of Youth Advocates 03/01/2010 - Recommended - Better Than Most
School Library Journal 03/01/2010 pg. 118
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 03/01/2010 - Book Of Special Distinction
Horn Book Magazine 03/01/2010 pg. 65
New York Times Book Review 05/16/2010 pg. 33
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2010 - Superior,Well Above Average
Voice of Youth Advocates 02/01/2010 - Recommended - Better Than Most
About the Author
Myers, Walter Dean: -
Walter Dean Myers was the New York Times bestselling author of Monster, the winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award; a former National Ambassador for Young People's Literature; and an inaugural NYC Literary Honoree. Myers received every single major award in the field of children's literature. He was the author of two Newbery Honor Books and six Coretta Scott King Awardees. He was the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults, a three-time National Book Award Finalist, as well as the first-ever recipient of the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.