Gennifer Choldenko: Al Capone Does My Shirts

G.P. Putnam’s Sons/Penguin Young Readers Group (Hardcover), ISBN 0-399-23861-1

1935, San Francisco Bay, California — 13-year old Moose Flanagan’s life changes drastically when his family moves to Alcatraz Island, a “twelve-acre rock covered with cement, topped with bird turd and surrounded by water.”

Moose’s welcome to Alcatraz feels about as warm as the temperature in the Bay — cold! He feels out of place on the rock; out of sorts with the Warden’s conniving daughter, Piper; and out of touch with his best friend, Pete. However, Moose endures these punishments so his sister, Natalie, can attend the Esther P. Marinoff School. Unlike normal older sisters, Natalie compulsively counts everything, obsesses over her button collection, and celebrates her tenth birthday over and over.

At first, Moose encounters difficulties in living beside con-artists, murderers and hit men (not all of them locked in their cells) and having convicts launder his shirts. After putting up with more than his fair share of problems, Moose resolves to come to terms with this new life and, at the same time, find a way to help his sister.

Gennifer Choldenko’s touching first person narrative of the coming of age of Moose Flanagan and his sister Natalie proves compelling, heartwarming, humorous and tender — all at the same time. This book shouldn’t be missed. Even the Newbery Committee agrees. It named Al Capone Does My Shirts one of its three Honor Books of 2005. I’m sorry that it didn’t win the Newbery Medal itself. Still, a well-deserved honor for both the extremely talented author and the editor, Kathy Dawson!

Lynne Marie Pisano

Lynne Marie Pisano (nee Remick) is a freelance writer, poet, book reviewer, SCBWI Metro New York LI Critique Group Coordinator and Co-Chair of the Long Island Children’s Writers and Illustrators. She lives in New York with her husband Michael, her son Kevin and a daughter named Kayla, and Dante, a Schipperke.