"Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko

Here’s the big secret: Librarians don’t read every book in the collection. With 15,000+ tomes, it is simply not possible. For the most part, we buy (and recommend) based on awards, publishers, authors, reviews. In the case of this book, it had won the very prestigious Newbery Honor, and the author’s previous work was also lauded. Using reviews that extolled the humorous nature of the tale, I recommended it to many as a “funny” book. This is a case where I should have read the book! It is a great story, well-written and accessible. It is not a “downer” as so many teen books are, and it does have some serious laughs (for me, one at the very end). But it is not a “funny” book. It’s a very well-done historical fiction book that has characters which ring true and interesting information I didn’t know.

Moose Flanagan is a twelve year-old boy whose family has moved to Alcatraz in 1935. His father, an electrician, needed work and gets a job at the prison. Moose is not happy about leaving his friends and family and has typical struggles making new friends among the families living on the island. What makes Moose stand out (other than his appropriate name) is his sister Natalie, who has autism at a time before such a condition was able to be diagnosed. Virtually every character (minus a few prerequisite bad guys) is fully developed, and the historical information is woven in so seamlessly that it feels deeply contemporary. The shenanigans of the kids and Moose’s desire to just play baseball among his various responsibilities come off as real. The story was fun (if not “funny”) and enjoyable. I blasted through the book in two hours and would happily recommend it to most readers.

My one complaint, if there is one, is that the character of Moose seemed somewhat older than his years. This could be a function of having to grow up and be the “older sibling” before his time, but the dissonance between his 12 year-old behavior and the internal monologue which drives the book did bother me at times. I don’t see this being an issue for teen readers, but the given age of the lead character could turn off older readers who might otherwise like this book.

There is a succinct epilogue provided by the author to clarify the historical elements of the book and it did a nice job of wrapping up this snap-shot like moment in time.