I am appreciating the National Book Award finalists this year because in reading them, I am breaking out of my comfort zone, just a little. In my previous life as a teen librarian, Lockdown was the kind of book that I would have recommended to teens, especially boys. I would have a general idea of what it was about ("Reese is a teen in juvenile detention, trying to survive until his release date."), but I would have missed out on an extremely thought-provoking novel.
Reese committed a burglary two years ago, stealing prescription pads from a doctor's office. At the beginning of the novel, Reese has just basically been surviving in juvenile detention. There isn't a lot of evidence that he has changed through this experience so far, but he hasn't gotten any worse, either. His family, on the other hand, is not doing so well. Reese was living with his mother, who is addicted to drugs. His older brother is a drug dealer and has also already been in juvenile detention. Reese's young sister has miraculously escaped all the trouble for now, and is holding out the only hope Reese can see.
While Reese's life on the outside is full of despair, his life on the inside is no better. There are frequent lockdowns on his unit, and the staff is cruel to the inmates. Reese's harsh reality is evident from the very beginning of the book. There are the title lockdowns - every inmate in their own cells, solitary detention, physical checks whenever an inmate has visitors or leaves the building, gangs... Myers does not shy away from the grittiness of juvenile detention, almost as a warning that there is nothing cool about prison. There is no humanity, except for the social worker on the unit who gets Reese a job working in a nursing home to help rehabilitate him.
One of the most striking things about Reese is the dilemma that he finds himself in. The drug dealer that he sold the prescription pads to blames Reese for someone's drug overdose. The police confront him in detention and tell him that he has three days to decide whether he will plead guilty or stand trial for a crime he didn't commit. Reese believes that if he has to stand trial, the jurors will never believe that he is innocent, so he feels that he must plead guilty. This is the source of much of the novel's tension - that Reese has no option because he has already been found guilty of a crime. You can feel his panic and worry for him as he contemplates his adult life spent in prison.
This is what Myers is best at - communicating the utter lack of possibility in the life of these prison inmates. The social worker continually reminds Reese that most of the young adults in juvenile detention will become adult prisoners. There is very little possibility for them in the real world, and as Reese realizes, they will often be blamed for additional crimes whether they were involved or not. It takes a strong person to rise above the reality. Is Reese that man?
This is a strong book by Myers. Since the National Book Award ceremony has already taken place, I know it didn't win. But Reese is a character full of the dichotomy of dreams and reality - one who doesn't have a lot of hope and yet chips out a small piece of hope for himself. Ultimately he fins a small measure of redemption.
Lockdown. Walter Dean Myers. Amistad: HarperCollins, 2010. Borrowed from Lewis & Clark Library
I usually don't waste time writing about books that I don't feel passionately about. I don't think as readers of this blog, you want to hear about every little thing I read, especially when it isn't something I either love or feel compelled to talk about. But this book was different - even though I didn't love it, it is one of the National Book Award finalists for Young People's Literature. And I did say here that I would be reading them all, so I felt that I needed to comment on it.
Caitlin is ten years old, and at the time of this book, it is arguable which is her defining characteristic - her diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome or the fact that her brother has just been killed in a school shooting. She is struggling to cope - Caitlin's brother really supported her and guided her in her interactions with the rest of the world. Without him, she is lost. Her father is also falling apart with the combination of the loss and dealing with Caitlin's issues at the same time. And in their small town, reminders of the shooting are everywhere, including at her school. She meets both the child of another victim and the cousin of one of the shooters in her school environment. The only thing that Caitlin really has going for her is a supportive school counselor with boundless patience and a talent for connecting with Caitlin.
The way Caitlin's brain works separates her from her classmates and father. She doesn't understand others' feelings, and often puts her own way of feeling onto others, mostly unsuccessfully. The book is told from her point of view, but perceptive readers will be able to empathize with those around her as they grapple with all of the events. Caitlin's Asperger's Syndrome also affects the way this story is written - the concepts that she feels strongly about are capitalized. For instance, Caitlin is searching for a way to get Closure - something she has been told will help her move on. Caitlin's counselor is also searching for a way for Caitlin to connect with friends since she has lost her brother. All of the dialogue in the book is italicized , which can be confusing when there is more than one person talking. Caitlin tells the story directly, without a lot of comments such as "Mrs. Brook said", leaving the reader to keep track of who says what.
Erskine states in the author's note that she wrote the book in response to the Virginia Tech shootings, thinking about how a shooting would affect a family. I really respect her reasons for writing it, but by the end of the book I felt it was a little precious. Caitlin seems to come out of her shell and to begin to connect with people. However, the way she ends up being the closest to the people also involved in the shooting, without any prompting from anyone else, seems somewhat forced. While I think her counselor, Mrs. Brook, is wonderful, she seems a little too wonderful - she even calls Caitlin while away on an unexpected family emergency to make sure Caitlin is okay. Her brother, Devon, also seems a little too perfect - one of the youngest students to work towards his Eagle Scout badge, he is trying to include Caitlin in the process of earning his badge.
The book is tied to To Kill a Mockingbird , but because of the way Caitlin's brain works, the connection again seems forced. She brings up the same things over and over again - how her brother Devon thought of her as Scout, how the mockingbird was a symbol of innocence. I know this is a function of Caitlin's brain, but it feels like the reader is being beaten over the head with it.
I do think it is an interesting look at Asperger's Syndrome and I would hope that it would lead to tolerance and understanding in classrooms with Asperger's students. I just felt that it was all too much when it was taken together with the theme of To Kill a Mockingbird and the school shooting too. I worried that it was just me who felt this way - after all, it is a NBA finalist, but I have seen at least one other review mentioning some of the same issues I brought up. I was so wowed by Ship Breaker, and I just felt that this paled in comparison.
Erskine, Kathryn. Mockingbird. Philomel, 2010. Borrowed from Helena School District.
Ship Breaker is a National Book Award finalist in Young People's Literature, and while it had been on my radar since the beginning of the summer, it didn't seem like the kind of book I'd be interested in, so I let it pass by. But I decided I wanted to read all the finalists, and I started with Ship Breaker. Boy, was I wrong about it not being my kind of book.
The book opens with Nailer working light crew, which entails sliding through small ducts in old ships, trying to strip the ship of anything usable. As the first chapters unfold, readers become aware of how hard Nailer's life is, with an abusive father and violence and drugs pervading the harsh society. There are small sparks of hope in his life, including his friend Pima and her strong mother, but Nailer is facing an uncertain future. Eventually he will become too small to go through the ductwork, and will have to find another way to earn what little money he can. But suddenly a "city killer" storm rips through his beach community, turning Nailer's life upside down. He discovers a hydrofoil ship which has wrecked up the coast from his shack. Nailer and Pima go to look for scavenge on the ship, and discover a rich girl, barely alive. What Nailer and Pima do next goes to the core of who they really are.
This summary sounds compelling, but it doesn't do justice to the plot of this novel. At heart, this is an adventure story and things happen to Nailer at a rapid pace. And once you're sucked in to the story, Bacigalupi does not let the suspense slack off. It is a heart-stopping pace, with Nailer, Pima and the rich girl (Nita) escaping both Nailer's abusive father and other pursuers in an effort to get Nita back to her family. There were times I could not stop reading, thinking "I should really stop - oh, I'll just read one more chapter...". You want to see Nailer and Nita safe, but it seems that their society has other ideas.
Bacigalupi's talent is science fiction, and while this is an adventure story, the background is definitely sci-fi. I really hate the world-building part of a science fiction novel - I don't like the feeling of uncertainty and not understanding what is going on. Ship Breaker is not like this. There are enough familiar elements to guide readers and the world-building is introduced slowly and in context. The book takes place off the Gulf Coast, sometime in the future. Technology has continued to advance, including clipper ships that can travel incredibly fast due to an ingenious hydrofoil system. But all of the technology, including genetically enhanced half-men and weaponry is accessible to teen readers and doesn't bog down the plot.
I do feel obligated to talk about the violence in this book. While some of the violence is drug-fueled (Nailer's father is a druggie and often beats Nailer while high), much of the violence is necessary as different factions struggle for power in this shipping-based society. However, life for Nailer is full of violence, even if he is not comfortable with it. This ties into some of the current topics that Bacigalupi weaves into this story, including the wide gap between rich and poor in this society. There is also prejudice between various groups and climate control (most of New Orleans is underwater now). Basically, life for Nailer has always just been about survival, and suddenly he is fighting for more than he ever dreamed possible.
I also have to say that I am relieved for once that there is not an obvious opening for a sequel. It seems like every great book lately has an ending which will lead to a trilogy, and this ending was a breath of fresh air.
I think this is a great National Book Award finalist, and I am glad I made the effort to read it. The pacing, the combination of science fiction and adventure, and most of all the characters made it worth my while. Well written.
Ship Breaker. Paolo Bacigalupi. Little, Brown and Co., 2010. Borrowed from the Lewis and Clark library
