Career Day at Guadalupe Middle School- A day given to innocent hopes and youthful dreams. A day no one in attendance will ever forget.
A year ago, Principal Linda McDonald arrived at Guadalupe determined to overturn the school's reputation for truancy, gang violence, and neglect. One of her initiatives is Career Day-bringing together children, teachers, and community presenters in a celebration of the future. But there are some in attendance who reject McDonald's bright vision.
A principal with a secret. A husband with a murky past. A cop with too many questions. A kid under pressure to prove himself. A girl struggling to escape a mother's history. A young basketball player with an affection for guns.
Even the school janitor has a story he dare not reveal.
But no one at the gathering anticipates the shocking turn of events that will transform a day of possibilities into an explosive confrontation.
Tense, poignant, and brilliantly paced, Laurie R. King's novel charts compelling characters on a collision course-a chain of interactions that locks together hidden lives, troubling secrets, and the bravest impulses of the human heart.
Praise for Lockdown
o(Laura R.) King delivers, providing both a drama-filled anatomy of the school and a chance for its community to show its best by the way it confronts the worst Career Day imaginable.o-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
oShocking.o-New York Post
oA riveting story of suspense and tragedy out of the most seemingly mundane ingredients- kids and adults preparing for a day at school. The violence doesn't explode until we're well into the book, but the lead-up to the explosion has the feel of a brewing storm- we know something is going to happen, even if we don't know what it is. A fine thriller, as timely as it is gripping.o-Booklist (starred review)
The award-winning novels of Laurie R. King are . . .
oSharp, inventive and rewarding.o-The Seattle Times
oAudacious.o-Los Angeles Times
oRousing . . . riveting . . . suspenseful.o-Chicago Sun-Times
oImpossible to put down.o-Romantic Times
oBeguiling . . . tantalizing.o-The Boston Globe
oStunning.o-The Christian Science Monitor
oDelightful.o-Booklist
