The story, told with humor and skill, will fascinate readers." -- School Library Journal , starred review

The only thing I found sad, but understandable, was how the mother wanted Natalie "fixed" rather than be helped. I don't think in 1935 autism was a thing anyone knew how to diagnose and these kids were sent to mental institutions or hidden away. But Mrs. Flanagan never gave up on Natalie regardless of the era, which I loved about her. She's a ride or die momma. Autism, which is “a disease that affects the way [an individual’s] brain and sensory system work,” was not specifically identified until 1943. In 1935, the year in which the story takes place, children who exhibited its characteristic symptoms were given a variety of diagnoses and were frequently institutionalized. The term autism encompasses a wide range of manifestations. Natalie has idiosyncratic mannerisms, problems in relating to people, and the speech patterns of a preschooler but is nothing short of a prodigy when it comes to numerical calculations, so she would most likely be identified as autistic today. The best description of Natalie's condition is paradoxically provided in the book by a seven year old, Theresa Mattaman. Theresa says: In the 1930s, Matthew "Moose" Flanagan and his family move from Santa Monica to Alcatraz Island when his father takes a new job as an electrician and a guard in the well-known Alcatraz prison. Moose becomes friends with the warden's daughter, Piper, who regularly gets into trouble in her attempts to get money to get off of Alcatraz. Piper talks Moose into being part of her money-making schemes, like having inmates on the island do laundry for the kids at school. When the scheme fails and the Warden receives word of it, the children are punished and have to find a new way to spend their time. Al Capone Does My Shirts is a historical fiction novel for young adults by the author Gennifer Choldenko. In the book, Moose Flanagan and his family move from Santa Monica to Alcatraz Island when his father takes a new job as an electrician and a guard in the well-known Alcatraz prison. The book was named a Newbery Honor selection, and in 2007 it received the California Young Reader Medal. It has three sequels: Al Capone Shines My Shoes, Al Capone Does My Homework, and Al Capone Throws Me a Curve. [1] [2] [3] Plot [ edit ] Forget everything you think you know about moose, because Moose Flanagan is neither covered in fur, nor does he have ridiculously long legs. Instead, he's just a kid trying to make it in the 1930s… with an autistic sister… and Al Capone for a neighbor. He's living in a whole different kind of wilderness from his four-legged namesakes.The Flanagans receive a call from the director of the Esther P. Marinoff School, who tells them that Natalie has not been able to adjust and that they must come for her immediately. The Flanagans are referred to Mrs. Kelly, a woman who might be able to work with Natalie. After consulting with Mrs. Kelly, Moose’s mom states that while she gives piano lessons in the city in the afternoons, Moose, in the interest of helping his sister “join the human race,” will be expected to take Natalie everywhere with him after school as if she were “a normal sister.” Moose pleads with his mother to let him have Mondays off so he can play baseball, but she tells him to ask his friends to move the games to Tuesdays, when she does not have lessons scheduled. To Moose’s surprise, Scout is able to reschedule the games. But Moose’s mother’s Monday lesson is switched to Tuesdays. When Moose tells Scout that he cannot play on Tuesdays now either, Scout gets angry and tells Moose, “Don’t expect to play on my team again.” The family in this story is pretty dysfunctional. The daughter is mentally challenged and this often leads to many fights between the parents and between the son and his parents as they try to cope. The mother lies often, for the sake of her daughter (which her son confronts her on, and later the father). The son's friend, who is throughout the book, is a chronic liar, constantly manipulating her "friends" and her parents to get what she wants. She likes doing things that are against the rules. The story concludes with Al Capone saving the day. During February and March, Natalie does not have a single fit and “seems easier and more present.” At school, Moose is paired with Scout on a project, and their friendship resumes as if nothing ever happened to interrupt it. Scout has heard that when the prisoners on Alcatraz play baseball in the recreation yard, a ball will sometimes go over the wall, and the children who find it get to keep it. Scout wants Moose to get him a “convict baseball.” If I could say why I preferred 'Al Capone' over 'Rules' I would say I saw more character development in Moose and he was a likable kid. The author gave him a great sense of humor and great character traits. Natalie was also seen to get help and grow. They both had stable lives and the parents were very involved in their growing up.

Like with book four, I found the descriptions of family life, life on Alcatraz, the historical setting, the characters, and the plot were quite engaging. People from middle grade through adults would have a good time with this one. I'm definitely going to keep going with catching up on the series. The title! Imagine living on Alcatraz at the same time as Al Capone. Then you find out he washes, mends, and folds your clothes. What stories you could tell for the rest of your life! Even as upset as I am right now, some part of me registers how cute she is.” A boy explains that a convict whistled at his sister. He is worried that this could be dangerous but the mother thinks it’s great. A boy tells another boy that a girl is googly-eyed over him. The mentally challenged girl disappeared for a few minutes and the brother finds her with a convict. It troubles him that he doesn’t know what happened. A friend says, “She’s not pregnant, right? … You do know about the birds and the bees, don’t you?” (she is not pregnant and as far as explained, nothing happened).Once she sent away for voodoo dolls and carefully followed the instructions some witch doctor in the West Indies wrote about how to relieve Natalie's condition. Another time she took Natalie to a church where everybody stood up and waved their arms. She read the Bible to her for two hours every day while Natalie sat staring at her right hands if there were a movie playing on her palm and she couldn't bear to pull herself away." (PG. 67)

Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko, has been critically acclaimed since it was published in 2004. And when we say acclaimed, we're talking by the Newbery Honor folks. Which is basically like the president of children's books giving you the seal of approval. And it's easy to see why—this book dives into both unusual and usual terrain at once, combining the unusual setting of living on Alcatraz Island while Al Capone's a prisoner there with the totally usual struggles of growing up, particularly with a sister who has some troubles of her own.It has become clear to Moose that Natalie has made progress with her new therapist. Moose can also see how important it is to his mother that Natalie gets into the school. When Natalie is turned down once again, Moose goes to the warden to ask for help. When the warden refuses, Moose sneaks a letter into the prison to Al Capone. A short time later, Moose learns that the Esther P. Marinoff School has created a new program for older children and Natalie is to be their first student. And of course aside from all of this, is the name calling, the brother seeing his sister naked one day and the father giving his son a beer. There’s more, but why go on. One of your negative reviewers mentioned "It's full of vulgar words and very violent." I know some people find the use of "Jesus", when not used as a religious reference, offensive. It occurs three times; there are no other "vulgar" words in the book.

When Moose and Natalie arrive home, Mrs. Flanagan has a cake ready with the number ten on it, and the island children celebrate Natalie’s birthday. Afterward, Moose tells his mother that everyone can see that Natalie is not ten and that the only chance she has at Esther P. Marinoff is if they tell the truth. Moose’s mom objects, but for once his dad sides with him. Mr. Flanagan goes to Natalie and asks her how old she is, and she responds, “I am sixteen at 2:31 today.” I really felt like I was on the island with them, as well. Having it set on Alcatraz is really cool and you learn a lot about the island in the 1930s -- and of course, it's funny!Physical / Personality Traits: How does this character interact with others in the book? What challenges does this character face? Attitudes/Disobedience - 34 Incidents: A boy argues with his mom, saying it isn’t fair that his dad spends time with his sister but not him. A boy doesn’t like to get in trouble and says it’s a curse. In his riskiest move to date, Moose decides to take matters into his own hands and writes a letter to Al Capone—the infamous gangster at Alcatraz—asking him to use his connections to help his sister get into school. And guess what? Within days, Natalie is accepted into the Esther P. Marinoff School. Huh.