Bibliographic Information:
Choldenko, G. (2004). Al Capone does my shirts. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
Readability Level: 4.7
Audience Level: Grades 5-8
Suggested Delivery: independent or group read
Summary: "In this appealing novel set in 1935, 12-year-old Moose Flanagan and his family move from Santa Monica to Alcatraz Island where his father gets a job as an electrician at the prison and his mother hopes to send his autistic older sister to a special school in San Francisco. When Natalie is rejected by the school, Moose is unable to play baseball because he must take care of her, and her unorthodox behavior sometimes lands him in hot water. He also comes to grief when he reluctantly goes along with a moneymaking scheme dreamed up by the warden's pretty but troublesome daughter. Family dilemmas are at the center of the story, but history and setting--including plenty of references to the prison's most infamous inmate, mob boss Al Capone--play an important part, too. The Flanagan family is believable in the way each member deals with Natalie and her difficulties, and Moose makes a sympathetic main character. The story, told with humor and skill, will fascinate readers with an interest in what it was like for the children of prison guards and other workers to actually grow up on Alcatraz Island." --Miranda Doyle, San Francisco Public Library
Choldenko, G. (2004). Al Capone does my shirts. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
Readability Level: 4.7
Audience Level: Grades 5-8
Suggested Delivery: independent or group read
Summary: "In this appealing novel set in 1935, 12-year-old Moose Flanagan and his family move from Santa Monica to Alcatraz Island where his father gets a job as an electrician at the prison and his mother hopes to send his autistic older sister to a special school in San Francisco. When Natalie is rejected by the school, Moose is unable to play baseball because he must take care of her, and her unorthodox behavior sometimes lands him in hot water. He also comes to grief when he reluctantly goes along with a moneymaking scheme dreamed up by the warden's pretty but troublesome daughter. Family dilemmas are at the center of the story, but history and setting--including plenty of references to the prison's most infamous inmate, mob boss Al Capone--play an important part, too. The Flanagan family is believable in the way each member deals with Natalie and her difficulties, and Moose makes a sympathetic main character. The story, told with humor and skill, will fascinate readers with an interest in what it was like for the children of prison guards and other workers to actually grow up on Alcatraz Island." --Miranda Doyle, San Francisco Public Library
Curriculum Connections:
Taken from Penguin's Classroom Classics: Educator's Guide
Taken from Penguin's Classroom Classics: Educator's Guide
- Al Capone, Henri Young, Alvin “Creepy” Karpis, Machine Gun Kelly, Roy Gardner, and Robert Stroud (aka the Birdman of Alcatraz) are among the most famous inmates in Alcatraz Prison. • Read about these men on the following website: http://www.alcatrazhistory.com/famous.htm. • Write and illustrate their profile as a comic book to be sold to tourists in San Francisco. You may do this by hand or use pixton.com.
- A ballad is a poem that tells a story, and is often set to music. • Use books in the library to locate examples of ballads. Read them to understand the form. • Work with a partner and write a ballad about one of the characters in the novel. • Consider setting it to the music of a popular ballad. • Perform the ballad in class, either as a choral reading or a song.
- Go to the Autistic Society webpage to research Autism and the stress issues that siblings may experience. How would you feel if a sibling or someone you cared about was diagnosed with Autism? What could you do to help? What challenges would this create?