The 17-year-old youth offender says he felt like his life story was prewritten.

The juvenile, who as of Thursday had been locked up in the Manatee Regional Detention Center for five days, claims he was set up for a theft he didn’t commit. Still, he knows he’s in there until his next court date is set. And he vows he’ll abide by the house rules at the Department of Juvenile Justice’s Fifth Street West facility in Bradenton.

He’ll listen to authorities, attend the 300 minutes of required daily schooling and participate in a volunteer read-a-thon for detainees next week.

The event, created by the center’s local advisory board, is a contest to reward youth for positive behavior. It’s also to raise money for more books in its library and to renovate its 25-year-old basketball court, said Kimberly Griffin, chair of the center’s advisory board.

Sponsors including Care Net Manasota are pledging money for each page a child reads, Griffin said. The contest runs Aug. 27 through Sept. 3 at the facility, which houses an average of 40 juveniles each day.

The goal is to have the juveniles read 25,000 pages in seven days. To validate they have finished a book, youths must write a 250-word essay about it, which a teacher then approves.

Rewards include snacks, pizza and board games on the weekend.

The youth who reads the most receives a $25 gift certificate to a local vendor to treat their family to dinner, said “Most of the kids we have, if they had their choice, wouldn’t be attending school on the outside, so this is designed to promote positive pro-social programing,” Gargett said. “It keeps them busy, keeps their minds active.”

That, and the fundraiser will help renovate a portion of the 72-bed facility built in 1985.

The basketball court only has one hoop and badly needs resurfaced. The library, which has about 1,500 books, needs more.

That’s because the juveniles, whose average stay at the center is about 15 days, check out about 200 to 300 each month.

Juveniles already are encouraged to read during in-house group classes made possible by the Manatee County School District. But the read-a-thon, Gargett said, gives them an extra push.

It appears it may work. The 17-year-old said he plans to tackle four books in seven days.

Not only will it keep him occupied, he said, he hopes it benefits the center’s other youths.

“A lot of people don’t read, but if they get something like a reward they might be learning something good in the long run,” he said as he stood inside the center’s computer lab, dressed in a blue detention uniform.

He just took the GED test and is waiting for the results.He hopes to write his own happy ending by getting his education and pursing a career. When released, he plans to join his family’s business transporting cars from Florida to Jamaica, where his brother lives.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” he said, then sat down at a desk in the lab and opened a book.

For information on how to be a sponsor or donate books call (941) 345-1200, ext. 113.