At her best, Natalie is “present” to what is going on around her and communicates with rudimentary words and phrases that are purposeful and not just rote reproductions of what other people say. At her worst, she is withdrawn and unreachable, entering into a state of catatonic unresponsiveness when the elements in her world overwhelm her. Through Natalie, the author communicates with remarkable clarity that the more extreme behaviors of autistic children are not primarily disciplinary issues but are the result of altered sensitivities that can spiral out of control. On the day before her second interview at the Esther P. Marinoff School, Natalie engages in a poignant struggle not to “leave” as “the forces inside her seem to collide.” Although on this occasion she manages, with Moose’s help, to redirect her attention and avoid a complete meltdown, a few days earlier, she had lost herself to a violent, incoherent tantrum. During her fit, Moose could see through her eyes that she was “trapped,” and it was only when he rolled her tightly in a carpet that the turbulence that terrified her subsided. Wrapped securely and protected from her own volatile reactions, she seemed to feel safe and lay “shaking, grateful, and forlorn.” Like with book four, I found the descriptions of family life, life on Alcatraz, the historical setting, the characters, and the plot were quite engaging. People from middle grade through adults would have a good time with this one. I'm definitely going to keep going with catching up on the series. Moose makes friends with other kids on the island, including Piper, the warden's daughter. Piper devises all sorts of crazy schemes to keep them occupied, most of which involve breaking Rule Number 1: Don't talk to or about the prisoners. The family in this story is pretty dysfunctional. The daughter is mentally challenged and this often leads to many fights between the parents and between the son and his parents as they try to cope. The mother lies often, for the sake of her daughter (which her son confronts her on, and later the father). The son's friend, who is throughout the book, is a chronic liar, constantly manipulating her "friends" and her parents to get what she wants. She likes doing things that are against the rules. The story concludes with Al Capone saving the day. Religious Profanity - 12 Incidents: For Pete's sake, goodness' sake, cripe's sake, thank God, oh my God, Sweet Jesus, Jeez, chrissake, Gee

The Flanagans receive a call from the director of the Esther P. Marinoff School, who tells them that Natalie has not been able to adjust and that they must come for her immediately. The Flanagans are referred to Mrs. Kelly, a woman who might be able to work with Natalie. After consulting with Mrs. Kelly, Moose’s mom states that while she gives piano lessons in the city in the afternoons, Moose, in the interest of helping his sister “join the human race,” will be expected to take Natalie everywhere with him after school as if she were “a normal sister.” Moose pleads with his mother to let him have Mondays off so he can play baseball, but she tells him to ask his friends to move the games to Tuesdays, when she does not have lessons scheduled. To Moose’s surprise, Scout is able to reschedule the games. But Moose’s mother’s Monday lesson is switched to Tuesdays. When Moose tells Scout that he cannot play on Tuesdays now either, Scout gets angry and tells Moose, “Don’t expect to play on my team again.” Theresa Mattaman comes by the apartment their first morning there and takes Moose and Natalie on a short tour of the island. They run into Piper, the warden's daughter, who immediately asks uncomfortable questions about Natalie. Moose does not like it when people assume Natalie is stupid simply because she is different. Piper's questions just make Moose dislike her. The story, told with humor and skill, will fascinate readers." -- School Library Journal , starred review Al Capone Does My Shirts opens with Moose and his family moving to Alcatraz where his dad got a job as both prison guard and electrician. His mom teaches music lessons. And, they are there so his sister can get into a special school in San Francisco that might help her. When Moose and Natalie arrive home, Mrs. Flanagan has a cake ready with the number ten on it, and the island children celebrate Natalie’s birthday. Afterward, Moose tells his mother that everyone can see that Natalie is not ten and that the only chance she has at Esther P. Marinoff is if they tell the truth. Moose’s mom objects, but for once his dad sides with him. Mr. Flanagan goes to Natalie and asks her how old she is, and she responds, “I am sixteen at 2:31 today.”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.

Okay, so the whole Al Capone element is obviously pretty compelling—who doesn't get excited to read about infamous gangsters?—but Al Capone Does My Shirts dives into much more important territory: namely, autism. The son asks the dad why he always does what the mother says (implying he’s not the head of the house). Parents get into a fight. A boy confronts his mom about her lying (the mother apologizes about her lying). “My mom’s done a million of things to help Natalie. The aluminum treatments, the voodoo dolls, UCLA, the psychiatrists, the Bible readings… What good were they?” His search is a total failure, though, until he finds out Natalie's been making friends with one of the cons. And this con has been hanging around long enough to know what Moose is looking for, so he gives the kid a ball. Suddenly, though, it doesn't seem like such a prized possession to Moose. Conversation Topics - 18 Incidents: Mentions rapists. “They even have a cr*pper in each tower so the guards don’t have to come down to take a leak.” “I had gone to take a leak…” A girl is mentally slow and has behavioral issues. She throws tantrums often to get her way (often times because she doesn’t know how to communicate). She is very good with numbers. (Her behavioral issues are throughout the entire book). Mentions that Capone “beats the traitors to death with a baseball bat.” Al is the perfect novel for a young guy or moll who digs books by Gordon Korman, or Louis Sachar." -- Time Out New York for KidsMoose (Matthew) Flanagan’s family moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 at the height of the Great Depression. Moose’s dad has been hired as an electrician and guard at the prison and the extra income will pay for 16-year-old Natalie’s, Moose’s older sister’s, special needs education. Natalie is on the autism spectrum and at this time in history, it isn’t diagnosed, but there is a special school for children here that will help the Flanagans avoid sending her to a mental institution as was done in those days. Moose finally settles in and begins to appreciate this unique place he gets to call home. Who else can say they get their laundry done by the inmates - by Al Capone, nonetheless? How fortunate to be a family of a member of the prison staff. Forget everything you think you know about moose, because Moose Flanagan is neither covered in fur, nor does he have ridiculously long legs. Instead, he's just a kid trying to make it in the 1930s… with an autistic sister… and Al Capone for a neighbor. He's living in a whole different kind of wilderness from his four-legged namesakes. Twelve-year-old Moose moves to Alcatraz, from Santa Monica, California, with his autistic sister, mother, and father. His father gets a guard job on Alcatraz while his mother tries to get his sister, Natalie, into a "great" school helping young kids in her condition. In 2019, the book was adapted as a stage performance at Mission Cultural Center by the San Francisco Youth Theatre. I really felt like I was on the island with them, as well. Having it set on Alcatraz is really cool and you learn a lot about the island in the 1930s -- and of course, it's funny!

Here's an awesome little history lesson on the infamous Al Capone, courtesy of none other than the FBI. He was one bad dude, that's for sure, though he met a pretty meager ending. Once she sent away for voodoo dolls and carefully followed the instructions some witch doctor in the West Indies wrote about how to relieve Natalie's condition. Another time she took Natalie to a church where everybody stood up and waved their arms. She read the Bible to her for two hours every day while Natalie sat staring at her right hands if there were a movie playing on her palm and she couldn't bear to pull herself away." (PG. 67) And of course aside from all of this, is the name calling, the brother seeing his sister naked one day and the father giving his son a beer. There’s more, but why go on. Moose likes a girl who tends to get him in trouble because he likes the way she looks. Moose is twelve; preteen kids don't always think about consequences. This book really tugged at my heart strings. I couldn't help but feel for Moose's character as his mother forced him to mature sooner than he was ready for. For being so young, he was a huge help to Natalie and she seemed to improve when she was with him. Unfortunately, many parents focus too much on "fixing" their children instead of accepting and loving them for who they are. Because there wasn't a diagnosis for autism during the time period, I understand Moose's mother's frustration with Natalie's illness, but it was difficult to side with her on her actions. I wanted her to recognize Moose's participation in Natalie's improvement. I wanted her to show Moose her love. But it just didn't happen and I felt for him.

Sign up now (it’s free!)

A boy notices a girl’s “cut little movie star mouth. That long straight hair.” A girl holds hands with a convict. A girl is holding a convicts hand (he is much older than she is). The brother thinks this is terrible and it is good. A father teases his son about a girl. A father winks at his son and says, “girl trouble.” A father says, “walk your friends home, please … Or should I say your harem.” Later a friend says, “goodnight, you two” teasing about the boy and girl being together. “I want to be here like I want poison oak on my private parts.” A girl looks at an ink blotch on a boy’s pants, right next to his fly. Regarding nervousness: “You start thinking, you get your drawers all in a twist.”

In his riskiest move to date, Moose decides to take matters into his own hands and writes a letter to Al Capone—the infamous gangster at Alcatraz—asking him to use his connections to help his sister get into school. And guess what? Within days, Natalie is accepted into the Esther P. Marinoff School. Huh. It has three sequels, Al Capone Shines My Shoes (2011) and Al Capone Does My Homework (2014) and Al Capone Throws Me a Curve (2018). A new book is in development.If I could say why I preferred 'Al Capone' over 'Rules' I would say I saw more character development in Moose and he was a likable kid. The author gave him a great sense of humor and great character traits. Natalie was also seen to get help and grow. They both had stable lives and the parents were very involved in their growing up. Physical / Personality Traits: How does this character interact with others in the book? What challenges does this character face?