Highly recommended for YA collections, grade 7-high school.Escape from Furnace… Beneath heaven is Hell… Beneath Hell is Furnace!įurnace Penitentiary. Reluctant readers will enjoy this thrill-ride.

Readers will not be able to put this book down.Įxciting and ferocious. If they stay in Furnace, they are guarenteed death. If it works, they will probably die in the explosion. They come up with a risky plan to blow a hole through solid rock using gas from the kitchen's stoves. He enlists the help of his cellmate and two other boys who came in with him. Sometimes you come back and most of the time, you don't. Sometimes 'they' come for you in the middle of the night. The sadistic warden welcomes new boys by saying, 'Beneath heaven is hell, boys, and beneath hell is Furnace. In fact, the guards would rather see the prisoners dead than alive. There are no safeguards for prisoners' rights. The prison itself is wedged in a massive gorge beneath the Earth. He stands toe to toe with the most brutal of the prison gangs, the Skulls. Championing underdogs and saving lives, Alex fights for the rights of the little guys.

He shows his true colors once he enters the Furnace. Even though Alex is guilty of breaking and entering and bullying and fighting, readers will like him. Framed for his best friend's murder, Alex gets a life sentence in this hellhole.

prison system-even maximum security lockdowns like Rikers Island-look like a child's tea party. In this gritty and disturbing YA novel, Smith creates Furnace Penitentiary, the 'toughest maximum security prison in the world for young offenders.' Furnace makes the U.S. There is a prison blog, game, etc all related to the book.Ĭontributed by: Tracy Richards, Teacher-Librarian The author has a website dedicated to the book How do you escape the warden's mutant dogs when he unleashes them in the prison? Most importantly, how do you escape? Who are the 'blacksuits'? Why do 'wheezers' come and drag prisoners out in the middle of the night. Alex is a part-time burglar who is framed for the murder of his partner and sent to 'furnace' where he discovers that there are worse things than he ever imagined. They are sent for life with no chance of ever coming out. It is set in the future where Juvenile delinquents are sent to the 'furnace' for punishment. This is one of the best 'boy' books I have read in years.

Escape from furnace book