Jordyn Bacon Review #7

[Jordyn]

For the Newbery Honor Book, I chose to read Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko. I have always been highly intrigued by Alcatraz as I am from the Bay Area and am really fascinated by true crime. I have done a report on Alcatraz in the fifth grade and have visited there a few times. So, when I saw this book on the Newbery Honor Book list, I jumped at the chance to read it hoping it would peak my interest in historical fiction as well as be a fun read about something I like, and it was! This book is about a twelve year old boy nicknamed Moose who moves to Alcatraz with his family, including his sister who is cognitively disabled, after his father gets a job as an electrician and guard in the prison. At first, Moose is bitter about leaving his friends and life in Santa Monica, but once he finds friends in the other children on the island and realized that he is here some of the most notorious criminals in the country, he starts to embrace it. In this novel, Moose tells his story of how he coped with life on the island, stayed out of trouble from the warden, and built lasting relationships on a rock in the middle of the bay. I would recommend this book to everyone. Although it is a young adult novel targeting the age range of approximately third grade, I think it a fun story which speaks a message of the importance of family and community.