Al Capone Does My Shirts

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko was a surprisingly enjoyable book. Prior to reading it I had little knowledge about Al Capone, Alcatraz, and what this story was about. However, there were many aspects of this story I enjoyed. I found it incredibly interesting that the author chose to tell the story of two individual characters through only the voice of one. I also noticed Choldenko’s attempt to possibly make her book more relatable to younger children by formatting each chapter as a journal entry stating the day and date. This story was unlike many books I had read before, in that the family was not the stereotypical one depicted within America society. Considering the time period in which the book took place, it was rather unusual to read of a family that was so diverse in their jobs, attitudes, and characteristics as the one in this story. The idea of Moose’s sister having a disability, that I interpreted to be autism, was played out perfectly by the author. Choldenko chose to represent Natalie as apparently different yet the same as any other child. This book did an outstanding job of breaking stereotypes.