This is an excellent book for young readers that interweaves real history with fictional characters. Simply an excellent book...

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Product Description

Moose Flannagan moves with his family to Alcatraz so his dad can work as a prison guard and his sister, Natalie, can attend a special school. But Natalie has autism, and when she’s denied admittance to the school, the stark setting of Alcatraz begins to unravel the tenuous coping mechanisms Moose’s family has used for dealing with her disorder.

When Moose meets Piper, the cute daughter of the Warden, he knows right off she’s trouble. But she’s also strangely irresistible. All Moose wants to do is protect Natalie, live up to his parents’ expectations, and stay out of trouble. But on Alcatraz, trouble is never very far away.

Set in 1935, when guards actually lived on Alcatraz Island with their families, Choldenko’s second novel brings humor to the complexities of family dynamics and illuminates the real struggle of a kid trying to free himself from the “good boy” stance he’s taken his whole life.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #192712 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-30
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-8--In this appealing novel set in 1935, 12-year-old Moose Flanagan and his family move from Santa Monica to Alcatraz Island where his father gets a job as an electrician at the prison and his mother hopes to send his autistic older sister to a special school in San Francisco. When Natalie is rejected by the school, Moose is unable to play baseball because he must take care of her, and her unorthodox behavior sometimes lands him in hot water. He also comes to grief when he reluctantly goes along with a moneymaking scheme dreamed up by the warden's pretty but troublesome daughter. Family dilemmas are at the center of the story, but history and setting--including plenty of references to the prison's most infamous inmate, mob boss Al Capone--play an important part, too. The Flanagan family is believable in the way each member deals with Natalie and her difficulties, and Moose makes a sympathetic main character. The story, told with humor and skill, will fascinate readers with an interest in what it was like for the children of prison guards and other workers to actually grow up on Alcatraz Island.--Miranda Doyle, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 5-8. Twelve-year-old Moose moves to Alcatraz in 1935 so his father can work as a prison guard and his younger, autistic sister, Natalie, can attend a special school in San Francisco. It is a time when the federal prison is home to notorious criminals like gangster Al Capone. Depressed about having to leave his friends and winning baseball team behind, Moose finds little to be happy about on Alcatraz. He never sees his dad, who is always working; and Natalie's condition-- her tantrums and constant needs--demand all his mother's attention. Things look up for Moose when he befriends the irresistible Piper, the warden's daughter, who has a knack for getting Moose into embarrassing but harmless trouble. Helped by Piper, Moose eventually comes to terms with his new situation. With its unique setting and well-developed characters, this warm, engaging coming-of-age story has plenty of appeal, and Choldenko offers some fascinating historical background on Alcatraz Island in an afterword. Ed Sullivan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Choldenko's pacing is exquisite. . . . [A] great read.

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Customer Reviews

"Onion" book
I called this book an "onion" because there are so many different layers to it. There is the Alcatraz layer where the reader learns a little bit about the life of living on Alcatraz. There is the Autistic layer where the reader learns a little bit about autism. There is even a layer of a boy just trying to be a kid by having fun with his friends, but instead he learns about his family and himself. Each one of these layers make up this book. Just like each layer makes an onion.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I am a fourth grade teacher and I had to read this book while pursuing a master's in reading. I will admit that it sat in my class library a few years before I picked it up. I thought it was just going to be a "kids" book. But this truly interested me as even an adult. Although the reading level is at a high thrid grade or low fourth grade level, I do not think that this age has the background to understand this book. Fifth grade would be a better age. I look forward to using this for a classroom reading in the future.

"Laundering" At Its Best
* Not only does Moose have the convicts of his new home looming over his head, but he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. With his dad working every shift he can get as an electrician and guard on the island of Alcatraz, and with his mother taking the ferry across the bay to give piano lessons every day of the week, Moose is left in charge of caring for his older autistic sister. In order to get their daughter the best treatment possible, by enrolling her in a school which provides care for those up to age 12, his parents pretend she is 10, when she is really turning 16. Then, there's Piper, the warden's conniving daughter, always scheming for a way to meet the infamous Al Capone, and recruiting the kids of the island to help. When his world starts crumbling around him, who should come to save Moose's day... but Scarface himself.
* While the normal issues a middle schooler faces (like finicky friendships, boy/girl relationships, peer pressure, and parent misunderstandings) are certainly substantial teaching material in this book, add on the issue of what it is like to have someone in the family with special needs. This book provides a wonderful avenue for pursuing the concepts of empathy, multiple perspectives and points-of-view.

Thumbs Up!
I really enjoyed reading this book for my children's lit class in college. I would definitely recommend it for adolescent children.