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

"A fine thriller, as timely as it is gripping."--Booklist (starred review)

"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."--Kirkus Reviews

"Lockdown has] the tension of a ticking time bomb."--San Jose Mercury News

"Dramatic . . . harrowing."--Santa Cruz Sentinel

"King is a strong, purposeful writer with a keen eye for detail. . . . This book earns] its page-turner status."--The Stranger

"Keeps readers guessing to the very end."--Charleston Currents