The school librarian recommended this book to my fifth grade
son. I can see why. After browsing the internet, I see this book and its follow
up, Al Capone Shines My Shoes, both by Gennifer Choldenko, on recommended lists for boys who don’t like adventure stories.
Not that there isn’t adventure in this book. Young “Moose”
Flanagan braves breaching a fence of the yard in a maximum security prison to
look for a baseball. That takes guts.
The heart of the story is the relationship between Moose and
his autistic sister, Natalie. The meat of the story is the setting. They live
on Alcatraz Island
Moose is like most kids I know, or maybe he is just like my
kids. He loves his independence and
begrudgingly takes on responsibility, which he takes seriously. Yet he is still
a kid and drawn into the plots of the cute warden’s daughter and the appeal of
the infamous.
Al Capone does not actually appear in the book, but makes a
significant impact nonetheless, in a very powerful Al Capone way.
No way! I will read this for me. I grew up on prison grounds with my Warden father! I had inmates wash my car and such. It's a different life when you can hear the hum of the electric fence. Get blinded by the razor wire. And hear (back then) 5,000 inmates cheer when Michael Jordan slam dunked!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jill
abby
Loved this book :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I loved this book too and the 2nd one! One of my favorites, for sure. Glad to hear librarians are recommending it.
ReplyDelete