Lockdown

A five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award and a two-time Newbery Honor recipient, Walter Dean Myers has been called "one of the most important writers of children's books of our age" (Kirkus Reviews). Lockdown is the powerful tale of 14-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.

"The claustrophobia felt by this likable kid trapped in a cruel environment is masterfully evoked..."—Kirkus Reviews

The New York Times - Jessica Bruder

Lockdown isn't a straightforward morality tale. It's a keenly observed portrait of what it means to serve time, full of hard choices and shaky shots at redemption. Myers is a master of observing kids in tough places, from the 16-year-old charged with felony murder in Monster,…to the young soldier in his recent Sunrise Over Fallujah. What makes this new novel stand out is its vivid depiction of the jail ecosystem and the compromises it demands of those who are able to survive it.

Walter Dean Myers is a New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed author who has garnered much respect and admiration for his fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for young people. Winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award, he is considered one of the preeminent writers for children. He lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, with his family.