John Shepherd (Shep) is a kid of the streets. An orphan bounced around from one foster family to another until he winds up in a juvenile detention center in upstate New York. While incarcerated, Shep and his fellow inmates are subjected to regular beatings and forced hard labor by the corrupt warden who runs the facility along with his squadron of armed guards. But Shep is no ordinary minor and has no intention of spending the rest of his youth behind bars. Shep and a handful of other inmates hatch a bold plan which culminates in a spectacular turn of events changing the lives of the young prisoners and their captors forever. The Upstate Boys is a tale of adventure, redemption and the unbreakable will of the human spirit. A must read for young and old alike, for anyone who ever dreamed of freedom and especially for those who made it happen.