Almost fifteen, Reese is trying for early release from Progress, a juvenile detention center. But his hopes are jeopardized when some of the tougher inmates target a kid named Toon and Reese feels he must physically defend the younger boy, especially when the guard on duty turns a blind eye to the pending violence. Reese’s actions reinforce the perceptions of those within the justice system who already believe he’s a criminal and lost cause. The warden at Progress wants him to understand that the choices he has made and continue to make matter. But racism, prejudice, poverty, and violence have been constants in Reese’s life—what kinds of choices does he really have? Talking with Mr. Hooft, who lives at the nursing home where Reese has a work release job, Reese begins to reflect more deliberately on that question, inspired in part by Mr. Hooft’s past experiences as a prisoner of war, not to mention the elderly man’s initially racist attitude toward Reese because he’s Black. Reese is also inspired by his younger sister, whose dreams he is determined to nurture. Myers’s affecting story affirms something fierce and essential: the desire to be loved and respected, to do the right thing, to be given a chance. (Age 12 and older)

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