Choldenko’s YA novel tells an emotional and endearing story about the Flanagan family. She shows the family’s true devotion and concern for Natalie and how they want dearly to help her. Moose’s character endures and understands; he’s kind and thoughtful. With Natalie’s character, Choldenko accurately describes her behavior, mannerisms, and idiosyncrasies of autism. She also brings great compassion and emotion to Nat and her family. The plot and the setting add great validity to this story. The entire island of Alcatraz has the feeling of abandonment and refuse. Then Choldenko places this extraordinary family on this island of misfits and criminals and shows their process of growth. She builds the tension and shows how problems can be worked out with love and understanding. This entire story builds itself around the mystique of Al Capone, who proves to be somewhat of a hero as he uses his influence to help Nat get into school. This book has a quiet power as the strangeness of events reinforces the complexity of the characters’ lives. The book constantly delivers up these strange occurrences with much to think about because of all the heartfelt emotion that comes through.