Locked Up

Kevin is a good kid but, like most teenagers, he can be impulsive and doesn’t always think about the potential consequences of his actions - the difference is that most bad decisions don’t result in jail time. Kevin’s day is already off to a rough start when he wakes up and realizes he’s hit snooze too many times. There’s no way he can get the to-do list his father texted and still make it to school on time. Making things worse, because Kevin’s dad is driving his new girlfriend to work, Kevin has to get to school on his own. His time crunch makes the empty, idling car he sees too tempting to ignore even though he’s too young to drive. First focused on getting to school on time, then on losing the police car suddenly behind him, Kevin hits some black ice and hits a pedestrian. In a single moment, Kevin permanently changes multiple lives, including him being sentenced to jail.

Kevin found his father’s rules strict and unnecessary, but they’re nothing compared to the rules in prison. With every activity planned to the minute, and the feeling of eyes always on him, it doesn’t seem possible for anyone to get up to trouble without everyone knowing. Even visitors get treated like prisoners to make sure no contraband gets in. Strummer, one of Kevin’s best friends inside, was talked into helping a gang get drugs inside. When he was caught, Strummer ended up getting a longer term and was moved to a different prison for his own safety.

Kevin is positive he’d never get into trouble like that, but hormones complicate things when Kevin sees a cute teenage girl who is visiting Wired, another prisoner. The only person on Kevin’s visitors list is his father, and their visits never go well. When he finds out the girl is Wired’s sister Larkyn, and after getting Wired’s approval, Kevin puts in a request to have her added to his visitor’s list. A new face might give Kevin a reason to look forward to getting out, and a reason to work hard to get out early. He’s excited to find out a new visitor has been approved for visits, and much faster than usual. That excitement is short-lived when he finds out it’s not who he was expecting. After making a request herself, Aisha, the daughter of the man Kevin hit, has been approved for visit. After refusing to meet her because he feels nothing good could come out of it, he finally relents, especially with the promise of having Larkyn added to his list of visitors if he does.

Kevin has always believed he killed the person he hit. At the first meeting with Aisha, Kevin finds out he didn’t kill Aisha’s father, but he did have to leave his job due to his injuries. It turns out that Aisha’s father is happier than he ever was at his old job. Having a difficult time processing this and other things Aisha is telling him, Kevin ends the meeting by running out of the room. Jackson, Kevin’s probation officer, offers some guidance and support, and, after preparing a letter telling Aisha how he regrets his actions and is happy her father is doing well, Kevin agrees to meet with Aisha again. Kevin’s probation officer reads the letter to Aisha, and her hearing that Kevin’s sorry helps Aisha forgive him, and, in turn, that act helps Kevin begin to forgive himself. Feeling like he may have a life after his sentence, and that he may be eligible for early parole because he’s taken responsibility for his actions, also helps Kevin find ways to help heal other relationships and to make positive choices when asked to break the rules even if it’s scary to do so.

Locked Up brings readers into the mind of Kevin, a 14-year-old boy who is still trying to work through his feelings about his mother’s leaving him and his father without warning. Without his mother in the picture, Kevin blames his father for a lot that goes wrong in his life, including his decision to steal a car. Despite Kevin’s bad choices, readers will empathize with his feeling of helplessness and rationalization of choices, both good and questionable, as he navigates his life inside prison as well as life outside that goes on without him.

Locked Up will make readers look at others in a different light and think before they judge. With numerous opportunities for discussion about consequences, if prison is always the best way to punish someone, and different ways to work through difficult personal issues and feelings, Locked Up will give readers a lot to think about. The author’s highlighting the way facing the consequences head-on and taking responsibility can be beneficial and easier on everyone, as well as the healing power of writing down your thoughts and feelings will lead to readers rooting for Kevin to make the right decisions and to feel Kevin’s relief when things go well. Readers will feel empathy for others in prison with Kevin because, regardless of whether they seem to be ‘good guys’ or ‘bad guys’, they all have reasons for their behavior, and many times they’re just trying to survive.

Kevin takes a writing class aimed at helping participants get in touch with, and better express, how they feel. Journaling has become increasing popular as a way to reflect on activities and feelings, and its positive benefits are demonstrated in the way Kevin’s letter changes how he and the family of the man he hit feel about what happened. Locked Up has the potential to be used as a jumping-off point for students in classroom activities including writing a journal entry for Kevin, another prisoner, Aisha, or Kevin’s father on order to build empathy, use their imaginations, and open the door to a journaling practice of their own. Kevin learns a lot throughout Locked Up, and readers will learn a lot from him!