Young Adult Literature; Coming of Age; Tragedy
Whenever your narrator is a teenager, it's a pretty safe bet that you're in the world of young adult literature. When the book begins, Reese is just fourteen years old, doing time in a juvenile prison for stealing prescription pads from a doctor's office. He's supposed to get out soon, so he's at a sort of crossroads: Will he continue down the path of criminality, or will he try to live right? Over the course of the book, he learns that he needs to take responsibility for his life in order to become successful. By the end of the story, Reese has made a decision to straighten out so he can be there for his little sister, Icy.
Lockdown is not straight tragedy because it doesn't have a tragic ending, but it has many characteristics of that genre. Reese's life is all about overcoming forces in society that are bigger than him, including racism and injustice. Much of his young life has been lost to the feelings of frustration and injustice at his bad lot in life, but by the end of the book, he's willing to work hard to make sure that he succeeds, even if it's against the odds.