A DIFFERENT WORLD

Hi Everybody,
Back with another great book review for you. This book, called Lockdown, quickly catapults you into a different world. Enjoy!

Lockdown, by New York Times Bestselling author Walter Dean Myers, is a beautiful story. But how so, you ask? How can a book with handcuffs on its cover, and a title like “Lockdown” be beautiful? It can…especially when it’s the story of a teen who wants more out of life than drive-by’s, beat-downs, and drugs on the corner, and he’s on his own to figure out how to get there.

Now just to be clear, this is a beautiful story, but it’s by no means mushy. The main character, Reese Anderson, is a tough one; he knows how to use his hands to keep other inmates off him, and he knows how to look hard so no one will think he’s weak. He knows how to hold back tears when he really wants to cry, and he knows how to skim over the bad stuff so his little sister thinks everything’s fine in juvy jail, when it’s really completely awful.

Yet Reese is not just a hardened teen who deserves jail time. He has a softer side—a side that many people who see teens in cuffs don’t bother to look for. He feels fear and uncertainty over his future; he feels compassion for a lonely old crank in a nursing home who hurls insults at everyone; and he hates watching weak kids in juvy get beat down just because they’re weak.

Yes, Reese Anderson—who is considered so dangerous, he’s cuffed to a van rail each time he’s transported somewhere, is actually a kind and gentle soul. His one mistake—and boy, was it a big one—was to break into a doctor’s office, steal some blank prescription pads, and sell them to a drug dealer. Once incarcerated, Reese has time to think about what his life was, and what it could be when he gets out.

I found this book touching on many levels. I felt Reese’s hopelessness as he pondered his “raggedy” home life and his bleak future. I marveled at the disregard of those into whose hands these troubled teens fall—not because they expect them to pay for what they’ve done (for well they should), but because they don’t help them find better solutions for their lives once the payment has been rendered. I rejoiced with Reese as he gloried in his little sister’s dream of becoming the first woman president, and vowed to help her achieve it. But I also held back a mother’s tears, because no one important to him ever helped Reese realize the potential he has…and that’s just a doggone shame.

As a reviewer for YABooksCentral, I received a copy of this book free-of-charge, but I’m giving it this review because I truly enjoyed it.

If you want a well-written, moving, in-your-face read that explores real life and real problems, be sure to pick up a copy of Lockdown. It’s a different world.

Best wishes and happy reading,

Rita Lorraine