This is a book I read a while back and is for more of an MG audience than a YA audience, but I thought it was worth blogging about for a number of reasons. For one thing, it's a good MG book for male readers - the lead character being a young boy who lives at Alcatraz because his father works there. He has an autistic sister who he has to take care of, and he also has to work his way around finding new friends at his school in San Francisco and dealing with being close to inmates at the prison. His parents are under stress because of his dad's job and his mother's need to deal with his sister and keep the family together and functioning.
It's historical fiction - Choldenko has done a lot of research to ensure that the details of the 1930s time period she is writing about are accurate, particularly with respect to the operation of the prison. The point of the title is that Al Capone is an inmate at the time of the action and there are all sorts of rumors circulating about him that both scare and captivate the kids who are the main focus of the story. There is a sequel to this book - Al Capone Shines My Shoes - that is an equally good read, particularly for a young male audience. The characters and situations are whimsical in both and, although there is some intrigue and suspense, there's nothing to raunchy or dangerous going on. Both books are great summer reads for young and older readers alike.
It's historical fiction - Choldenko has done a lot of research to ensure that the details of the 1930s time period she is writing about are accurate, particularly with respect to the operation of the prison. The point of the title is that Al Capone is an inmate at the time of the action and there are all sorts of rumors circulating about him that both scare and captivate the kids who are the main focus of the story. There is a sequel to this book - Al Capone Shines My Shoes - that is an equally good read, particularly for a young male audience. The characters and situations are whimsical in both and, although there is some intrigue and suspense, there's nothing to raunchy or dangerous going on. Both books are great summer reads for young and older readers alike.
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