Module 10: Historical Fiction

As an adult, my dose of historical fiction usually comes in the form of romance novels. I find that for someone who's fairly ambivalent toward historical events, the detail that most books include bogs down the plot to the point I'd rather put the book down than finish reading it. The same is true for children's historical fiction, and I didn't care for some in this module. I started reading and didn't make it past page 5. Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko, however, is one I read to the end and really enjoyed.

Moose Flanagan is a 12-year-old in 1935. His sister, Natalie, is autistic, though there is no such description back then or in the book. Moose moves to Alcatraz Island so that his father can get a job as an electrician and so that Natalie can hopefully be enrolled in a special school. There are few other kids on the island. Despite the title, Moose has only a limited encounter, if it could be called that, with Al Capone close to the end of the book.

Choldenko uses historical detail to provide a frame for the plot and is even meticulous in acknowledging what details were true and which were stretched. The detail and the time period are essential to the story but do not take center stage, which I appreciated.

"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." -- School Library Journal

"Twelve-year-old Moose moves to Alcatraz in 1935 so his father can work as a prison guard and his younger, autistic sister, Natalie, can attend a special school in San Francisco. It is a time when the federal prison is home to notorious criminals like gangster Al Capone. Depressed about having to leave his friends and winning baseball team behind, Moose finds little to be happy about on Alcatraz. He never sees his dad, who is always working; and Natalie's condition-- her tantrums and constant needs--demand all his mother's attention. Things look up for Moose when he befriends the irresistible Piper, the warden's daughter, who has a knack for getting Moose into embarrassing but harmless trouble. Helped by Piper, Moose eventually comes to terms with his new situation. 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." -- Booklist

For this book I would lead a discussion of the famous prisoners of Alcatraz and have the kids create a poster advertising Piper and Moose's laundry service.