Lockdown

January 11, 2010
Maurice “Reese” Anderson is sentenced to 38 months in Progress, a juvenile detention center in New York, for stealing prescription forms for use in a drug-dealing operation. After 22 months, Reese, now age 14, is assigned to a work-release program at Evergreen, an assisted-living center for seniors. There he meets racist Mr. Hooft, who lectures him on life’s hardships (having barely survived a Japanese war camp in Java), which causes Reese to reflect on his own choices. More than anything, he wants to be able to protect his siblings, who live with his drug-addicted mother, before they repeat his mistakes (“The thing was that I didn’t know if I was going to mess up again or not. I just didn’t know. I didn’t want to, but it looked like that’s all I did”). Reese faces impossible choices and pressures—should he cop to a crime he didn’t commit? stick out his neck for a fellow inmate and risk his own future? It’s a harrowing, believable portrait of how circumstances and bad decisions can grow to become nearly insurmountable obstacles with very high stakes. Ages 12–up.

September 1, 2010

Gr 8-11-Reese Anderson, 14, is serving three years at Progress Center for stealing prescription pads for a neighborhood drug dealer in Walter Dean Myers's realistic, moving novel (Amistad, 2010). The teen focuses on keeping his nose clean so he can get out early and be there for his younger sister. But the detention system is like a "basket of crabs"-when one tries to get out, the others pull him back in. Reese's desire to stay out of trouble conflicts with his instinct to defend a younger inmate. His record of fighting threatens his involvement in a work release program at Evergreen, an elder care facility where he is assigned to Mr. Hooft. The older man doesn't like "colored people" or criminals, so he is wary of Reese. Over time, though, they begin to trust each other as Mr. Hooft opens up about his experiences in the Dutch East Indies during World War II. Meanwhile, Reese is implicated in a drug overdose linked back to those prescription pads, and he faces up to 20 years in jail. The teen's future is uncertain, but he wants to choose a better path for himself. J. D. Jackson convincingly captures Reese's combination of bravado, frustration, and fear. Supporting characters are all compellingly portrayed, from menacing Progress guards to ethnically diverse inmates. Jackson's rendition of Mr. Hooft is a standout.-Amy Pickett, Ridley High School, Folsom, PA

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