Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

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Al Capone Does My Shirts: A Novel
by Gennifer Choldenko
(Audio)

This is a book that always pops up on the Fairfax County Public School shelves. It's about a young boy whose father gets a job working at Alkatraz during the time notorious Al Capone was a prisoner there. I had no idea that there were families that lived on the island, so close to the inmates. So it was neat to explore this world and time. Normal kid problems--baseball games, kids at school who are hard to handle, etc. with that kind of a backdrop make the story very enjoyable. For example, the warden's daughter organizes a get rich quick scheme to take in clothes from kids at school and put them in the laundry on the island that the inmates wash. Hence the title of the book.

In addition to this, another interesting aspect is the main character's sister, who is autistic. Of course, they didn't use that term for it then, but it's clear that's what she is. And the different approaches taken in the book toward her--different ways of relating to her, pushing her to try to join the world, pushing to try to get her help of different kinds, forcing her to do things, letting her do her own thing--were my favorite part of the story. I really felt for the family (mostly the mother), not really understanding sometimes that she is happy in her own way and some things that work for us might not work for her. The book plays with some deep themes from time to time, and some dangerous ones, especially as the sister seems to be befriending one of the inmates!

There's just enough tension and drama to make for a great story. But, really, it's a beautiful slice of life that was fun to be a part of while I was earreading it.