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Gennifer Choldenko

Goodreads Author

Born

Santa Monica, CA, The United States

Website

http://www.choldenko.com/

Member Since

January 2009

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/alcatrazgirl

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There’s a Lego in my bum which fits with the Lego in my chair and when I sit down to write, I hear the satisfying snap of the two pieces fitting together. I love words, dictionaries, thesauruses, sharp pencils, the smell of book ink and the delicious art of carving out sentences on clean white paper. I love to slip into another person’s skin and feel what it’s like to live another life. I love when characters come to me out of nowhere and make me cry so hard my mascara runs or laugh until my stomach hurts. I love the crazy fun and infinite possibility of storytelling.

What prepared me for a life of writing fiction? Though I have a BA from Brandeis University in English and American Literature and a BFA in illustration from Rhode Island Schoo There’s a Lego in my bum which fits with the Lego in my chair and when I sit down to write, I hear the satisfying snap of the two pieces fitting together. I love words, dictionaries, thesauruses, sharp pencils, the smell of book ink and the delicious art of carving out sentences on clean white paper. I love to slip into another person’s skin and feel what it’s like to live another life. I love when characters come to me out of nowhere and make me cry so hard my mascara runs or laugh until my stomach hurts. I love the crazy fun and infinite possibility of storytelling.

What prepared me for a life of writing fiction? Though I have a BA from Brandeis University in English and American Literature and a BFA in illustration from Rhode Island School of Design, the true answer is probably genes. I come from a long line of Irish storytellers on my father’s side and theatre people on my mother’s. I always knew I loved to write, but it took me a long time to summon the courage to chase the dream. I finally went for it when I realized I would prefer to be a failure at something I wanted to do, then a success at something I didn’t.

While I was pretending I wasn’t a writer, trying to be a nice person with a nice quiet job somewhere, I sold lingerie, lipstick and lamp shades. I wrote junk mail. I taught visually and hearing-impaired kids horseback riding. I held a prestigious job in rubbish removal and I worked in a factory wearing a paper gown while wielding a large mallet on small serving packages of ketchup.

One Third Nerd, my funniest novel yet, is due out in January 2019. My most famous novel, Al Capone Does My Shirts, garnered 20 awards, one of which was the Newbery Honor. The Tales of Alcatraz series has sold more than 2 million copies. What will probably be the last book in the series: Al Capone Throws Me a Curve is the best of the fifteen books I’ve written so far.

I am a fitness fanatic; a book-obsessed, tennis-playing woman who thinks like a twelve-year-old. If I ever get the good fortune to meet you, offer me coffee and I will be your friend for life.
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Gennifer Choldenko’s books

Average rating: 3.84 · 65,302 ratings · 7,603 reviews · 23 distinct works • Similar authors

	Al Capone Does My Shirts (Tales from Alcatraz, #1) 3.84 avg rating — 41,542 ratings — published 2004 — 47 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Al Capone Shines My Shoes (tales from Alcatraz, #2) 4.01 avg rating — 7,703 ratings — published 2009 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Al Capone Does My Homework (Tales from Alcatraz, #3) 4.12 avg rating — 3,345 ratings — published 2013 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	No Passengers Beyond This Point 3.47 avg rating — 2,720 ratings — published 2010 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period 3.51 avg rating — 2,717 ratings — published 2007 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Chasing Secrets 3.80 avg rating — 2,147 ratings — published 2015 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Notes from a Liar and Her Dog 3.72 avg rating — 1,329 ratings — published 2001 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dad and the Dinosaur by Gennifer Choldenko (Goodreads Author), Dan Santat (Goodreads Author) (Illustrations) 3.77 avg rating — 1,216 ratings — published 2017 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Al Capone Throws Me a Curve (Tales from Alcatraz, #4) 4.30 avg rating — 812 ratings — published 2018 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	One-Third Nerd by Gennifer Choldenko (Goodreads Author), Églantine Ceulemans (Illustrations) 3.70 avg rating — 399 ratings — published 2019 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by Gennifer Choldenko

Tales from Alcatraz (4 books)
by

Gennifer Choldenko (Goodreads Author)

3.89 avg rating — 53,389 ratings

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Gennifer Choldenko and 1 other person liked Emily's review of Chasing Secrets: "I really enjoyed this story about a headstrong girl living in turn-of-the-century San Francisco. Lizzie loves to help her father tend to his patients, and she longs to become a doctor as well, something that her Aunt Hortense just cannot abide. Girls" Read more of this review »
Jul 11, 2020 10:28AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Gennifer Choldenko answered Josh's question: How did you make your books make me want to read it even more? Hi Josh, So sweet of you to ask this. I don't know the answer exactly. I think the setting had a lot to do with it. Who doesn't want to read about Alcatraz?
Jun 27, 2020 01:04PM · 3 likes · like
Gennifer Choldenko and 1 other person liked Marina's review of Chasing Secrets: "Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!! I really liked this book, and what an appropriate time to read it 😂 (as it's about the plague and we have the coronavirus). I do think the ending was a bit fast, and I would've liked to see more of Gus and Gemma in the last few b" Read more of this review »
Apr 03, 2020 04:11PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Gennifer Choldenko liked Karen Arendt's review of Orphan Eleven: "Lucy is in an orphanage in 1939 after her mom dies. She is separated from her sister before she enters the orphanage and is treated poorly. When Lucy and a few other have the opportunity to run away, they do. They join the circus hoping to earn appre" Read more of this review »
Feb 27, 2020 08:25AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Orphan Eleven by Gennifer Choldenko. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Orphan Eleven by Gennifer Choldenko <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Gennifer Choldenko liked Becky's review of Orphan Eleven: ""In this world that can be terribly hard & unkind, there are miracles...(p. 285)" Experience the miracle of Lucy who runs away from the orphanage and has the adventure of a lifetime as she discovers her talent of working with elephants in the circus. " Read more of this review »
Feb 27, 2020 08:25AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Orphan Eleven by Gennifer Choldenko. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Orphan Eleven by Gennifer Choldenko <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Gennifer Choldenko rated a book it was amazing Orphan Eleven by Gennifer Choldenko (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
(Full disclosure here. I am the author of Orphan Eleven so of course I love the book.) Orphan Eleven is about a girl in search of her voice, a big sister who will do anything to find her little sister, an elephant with a big personality, and a group ...more
Feb 07, 2020 02:49PM · 14 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Orphan Eleven by Gennifer Choldenko. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Orphan Eleven by Gennifer Choldenko <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Gennifer Choldenko joined the group Teachers' Book Club
Feb 05, 2020 10:13AM · like

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Quotes by Gennifer Choldenko

“Nobody knows how things will turn out, that's why they go ahead and play the game...You give it your all and sometimes amazing things happen, but it's hardly ever what you expect.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, Al Capone Does My Shirts

tags: live-in-the-moment, optimism, possibility, uncertainty

139 likes

“Now I understand. When you love someone, you have to try things even if they don't make sense to anyone else.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, Al Capone Does My Shirts

55 likes

“Life is amazing, isn't it? You can't ever tell what will happen. Nobody knows until they go ahead and play the game.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, Al Capone Does My Shirts

31 likes

See all Gennifer Choldenko's quotes »

Polls

Best Children's

Dog Days (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, #4)

1092 votes 36.7%

The Magician's Elephant

562 votes 18.9%

Scat

277 votes 9.3%

Al Capone Shines My Shoes (Al Capone at Alcatraz, #2)

244 votes 8.2%

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (Calpurnia Tate, #1)

235 votes 7.9%

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

181 votes 6.1%

Dork Diaries Book 1: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life (Dork Diaries, #1)

149 votes 5.0%

Love, Aubrey

123 votes 4.1%

Lucky Breaks (The Hard Pan Trilogy, #2)

58 votes 1.9%

The Storm in the Barn

54 votes 1.8%

2975 total votes

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