Lockdown
By Walter Dean Myers

Year of Publication:
2010

Setting:
Juvenile Facility

Overview:
This book is mainly about a young man named Reese that really wants to change his life around. Reese is being moved from a juvenile jail to a real jail. He has many different problems going on while he is in the juvenile center. Reese gets involved in a fight with his friend Toon and gets put in a bad situation. Reese is given a second chance and promises to turn his life around.

At the beginning of the book, Reese, a 14 year old boy has already spent twenty-two months in Progress, a juvenile facility for troubled youths. Reese really wants to get out, and some of the authorities have noticed his potential. Reese spends his first day in a pilot work-release program. His job is to do whatever is asked of him at Evergreen nursing home. When Reese gets to Progress after his day of work, he finds out from his friend Play that one of Progress’s bullies, Diego is planning on jumping his friend Toon. Usually, Diego’s makes threats but doesn't follow through, but this time they are worried because a serious gang member named Cobo has been sent to Progress before he goes to an adult facility. Reese does not want to just stand and watch while Toon is beaten up, but he knows that if he wants to get out of there, that he cannot get into a fight. The next morning, when the guards walk through and calls roll, Toon’s doesn't answer, and he shows up at breakfast with bruises and cuts. Reese gets a letter from his nine-year-old sister, Icy, who motivated him to make something of himself. She tells him that she is working to get into a charter school for ambitious students, that their father came back asking for money, and that a man in their neighborhood got shot, and is now paralyzed.

Reese heard that Cobo and Diego were planning to attack Toon again, so he confronts him. The guard, Mr. Pugh, can see a fight is about to happen, so he left the room. Reese and Cobo fight until the guards come back and take them to detention. While Reese sits in detention waiting to speak to Mr. Cintron, the facility’s supervisor, he is scared because he can get expelled, and sent to an adult prison. He gets one more chance because Mr. Cintron does not want to lose funding for the program, but warns Reese that if he “messes up” again, he will be sent to an adult prison. Reese meets an elderly Dutch man named Mr. Hooft, and finds out he is extremely demanding, impatient, and racist, but he still confesses to him and shares his story. When he asks Reese if he is a murderer, he tells him that he is in Progress for stealing prescription pads from a doctor’s office and selling them to a drug dealer.

Icy and Reese’s mom come to visit him and he is happy to see Icy and asks about all her plans. When they are visiting Reese realizes that his mother is selfish and wants to use her children only for money.
Mr. Cintron sent Cobo away after the fight with Reese, and a new person shows up. King Kong (Tariq Sandes) is huge and wants to fight Reese. Reese stays away from him for a while, but when they were playing basketball, it got violent and they started to hit each other. Mr. Wilson, another guard, puts them in detention and scolds them and says he isn't going to report them. Reese tells Mr. Hooft about his struggles to resist the urge to fight, and he then tells Reese of his hard childhood. Hooft’s parents were separated, and he was thrown into a Japanese prison camp with other boys. Reese finds out that Mr. Hooft was shot when he was younger and has a large bullet hole, and Reese's friend Toon tried to end his life by hanging himself and he gets moved to another wing of the prison.

In the end, investigators come to get Reese because the drugs he stole got someone killed. So he needs to clear his name before he is in Progress even longer. When he finally gets released and regains his freedom with everyone else, they all decide to try and do good things with their lives. His brother Willis is in jail hoping to make a rap cd when he gets out, and Toon is out of jail barely hanging on.

Theme:
Consequence
I think this works as a good theme for the novel because throughout Reese's whole experience in the Juvenile facility, he is suffering consequences of every action made. He knows that every action has a consequence, and that is one of the main reasons he got out.
Review:
I thought this book was really good, and I would recommend it to mostly boys because it would be easier to relate to Reese, however, this book would give a positive change to anybody who read it. I would especially recommend this book to the kids on the streets, and the kids who struggle with the same issues as Reese did. Overall, the book was really good and it changed how I think about something’s now.