Gennifer Chodenko: Al Capone Does My Shirts - Tales From Alcatraz book 1

I inherited a bunch of upper elementary books from my mother-in-law when she left teaching, and it's been my goal to read some of them so I can make recommendations to my own kids. I keep thinking these little books will only take me an afternoon, but here I am two months after starting it finally finishing it.

Moose Flannagan lives on Alcatraz Island. He's not a prisoner, but his father works at the prison, and so the family lives right there on the Island next to the cons. Moose's sister has been ten for five years in a row. They've tried to find help for her mental condition, and their last choice is a school for similar children. The family has relocated to Alcatraz to be able to afford the school. Moose meets the other Alcatraz children, including the willey Piper, the daughter of the warden. Piper hatches many schemes, one of which is to get the kids at school to pay them to get their clothes laundered by the cons including the infamous Al Capone. Can they actually help Nat?

This was a cute book, and I enjoyed the storyline. The plot is a little slow in places, as the kids hatch their schemes. I enjoyed the nuanced conflict between Moose and his parents as well as the conflicts between the other kids.

It was interesting to read about autism and how it was treated in the past. Nat's condition would be on the autism spectrum now. She's verbal, but only just. It was interesting to read about it and all of the avenues their parents had persued to try and get her help.

This book would be good for kids in upper elementary and above. I gave it ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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