Module 6--Historical Fiction

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko is a tale of Moose and his family who happen to live in an extraordinary place: the infamous Alcatraz. Moose’s father works at the prison and his whole family is moved to live on the island with the prisoners. This story chronicles Moose, his autistic sister Natalie, his new found friends and their adventures living with some of the most notable criminals of the 1930’s.

I was surprised about many of the facts that are contained in this book. I never knew that prison guards, workers, and their families were required to live on Alcatraz Island. The setting made the story more interesting. Moose and his adventures with his friends would not have been so memorable, but add in Natalie, and the story comes alive. Autism was a misunderstood disease and is finally being more widely studied and researched now. It is interesting to see how children with that disease were thought of and cared for at that period of history.

Review: With its unique setting and well-developed characters, this warm, engaging coming-of-age story has plenty of appeal, and Choldenko offers some fascinating historical background on Alcatraz Island in an afterword. -- Ed Sullivan (BookList, 02-01-2004, p976)

This is another story that would work well with non-fiction texts. This young adult story contains many avenues for research. Research could be done on Alcatraz, the criminals that were housed there, the Great Depression and even autism.