Juggling a range of personalities in this story of redemption, J.D. Jackson balances his voices well, particularly that of the main character, Reese. But it takes a bit of listening. At first, Jackson’s voice sounds too old for the 14-year-old character. Yet as Jackson instills his voice with all the insecurity and frustration Reese experiences as a young black man who is trying to sort out his life while stuck in a juvenile detention center, the situation resonates with the listener. Given the opportunity to participate in a work-release program, Reese sees the opportunity to improve his life and help his family, but that’s only if he can keep out of the trouble that landed him in prison in the first place. L.E. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
Lockdown
Narrated by J. D. Jackson
Walter Dean MyersUnabridged — 5 hours, 6 minutes
Lockdown
Narrated by J. D. Jackson
Walter Dean MyersUnabridged — 5 hours, 6 minutes
Audiobook (Digital)
Free with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime
Already Subscribed?
Sign in to Your BN.com Account
Related collections and offers
FREE
with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription
Overview
Editorial Reviews
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.
—The New York Times
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. (Feb.)
Gr 9 Up—Maurice (Reese) Anderson, 14, stole prescription pads to make easy money for his family. Now he's serving time in a detention center. Working at a nursing home, he meets Mr. Hooft, who tells him that he doesn't like colored people or criminals. An antagonistic relationship quickly develops between them as Mr. Hooft verbally attacks the teen each time he attempts to carry out his duties. But there is greater trouble for Reese back at Progress; his impulsive behavior has left him at odds with the lead guard and the newly arrived gang leader. Now he must control his volatile and sometimes violent behavior when he is provoked as he awaits his appearance before the parole board. His fellow detainees have a wide variety of backgrounds, each offering a thread of connection to readers. Returning to common themes of justice, free will, and consequence, Myers again explores the mind of a young man struggling to survive the streets of Harlem. This latest work, while well written, doesn't achieve the emotional resonance of Paul Volponi's similar Rikers High (Viking, 2010). The characters feel static, and the depictions of the justice system and racial tensions will be familiar to many of Myers's readers. Hooft's incarceration in the Japanese camps during World War II is a somewhat unexpected revelation, but needs more historical background. Though not the author's most powerful work, this book has an audience waiting for it and should be purchased for most collections.—Chris Shoemaker, New York Public Library
Fourteen-year-old Reese Anderson has already spent 22 months at the oxymoronically named Progress Center, and his prison world is delineated in painstaking detail-eternal stasis, a non-life, ever vulnerable to random violence and the threat of detention, added time and being sent upstate. The claustrophobia felt by this likable kid trapped in a cruel environment is masterfully evoked-a cell measuring 93 inches by 93 inches, the outside world observed from one closed-tight window overlooking a fence with barbed wire and relationships based on mistrust and a hierarchy of fear. As in Monster (1999), Myers is interested in first steps-how a person goes from innocence to incarceration and the difficulty, once in the prison system, of getting out and staying out. He offers no easy answers, but roots salvation in a few helping hands along the way and in personal moral decisions; Reese comes to realize that home and the streets are not where it's at: "I know I got to start with me." (Fiction. 12 & up)
A moving tale of a kid who may have made a mistake but who still deserves the modest future he seeks. Refreshingly avoids cliché.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)
“Masterful.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Myers creates a nuanced, realistic portrait of a teen dealing with incarceration and violence. Myers gets his voice just right.” — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)
Myers creates a nuanced, realistic portrait of a teen dealing with incarceration and violence. Myers gets his voice just right.
A moving tale of a kid who may have made a mistake but who still deserves the modest future he seeks. Refreshingly avoids cliché.
"A moving tale of a kid who may have made a mistake but who still deserves the modest future he seeks. Refreshingly avoids cliché."
“A moving tale of a kid who may have made a mistake but who still deserves the modest future he seeks. Refreshingly avoids cliché.
Juggling a range of personalities in this story of redemption, J.D. Jackson balances his voices well, particularly that of the main character, Reese. But it takes a bit of listening. At first, Jackson’s voice sounds too old for the 14-year-old character. Yet as Jackson instills his voice with all the insecurity and frustration Reese experiences as a young black man who is trying to sort out his life while stuck in a juvenile detention center, the situation resonates with the listener. Given the opportunity to participate in a work-release program, Reese sees the opportunity to improve his life and help his family, but that’s only if he can keep out of the trouble that landed him in prison in the first place. L.E. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940169505030 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Recorded Books, LLC |
| Publication date: | 05/14/2010 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
Videos
