Rikers Author:Paul Volponi Rikers is the story of Martin Stokes, known as Forty, a seventeen-year-old on Rikers Island in New York. Forty gets his name from the number of the bed to which he is assigned. He has spent five months on the island, waiting to plead guilty to a minor offense and receive probation. During his last few weeks there, his face is slashed in an attac... more »k against another inmate. He is transferred to a different housing unit after the attack and must re-establish himself in another pecking order. In his new unit, he finds support in a teacher, and comes up against Brick, the house gangster. On his final trip to court, Forty has the opportunity to exact revenge when he encounters his assailant again. This is a novel for adults who are concerned about adolescents.« less