Historic Fiction

Book Review: Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

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Synopsis

After his father takes a job as an electrician and guard, Moose Flanagan and his family find themselves living on the rock, the famous island home of the even more famous prison of Alcatraz. While Alcatraz is home to famous prisoners like Roy Gardner,  Machine Gun Kelly, and Al Capone, Moose soon discovers that his biggest problems will come from his friendship with the warden’s conniving daughter Piper.  Her scheme to charge students at their on shore school for the opportunity to have Al Capone wash their clothes is soon discovered by the warden thrusting Moose into the complicated and confusing realities of friendship.  His other challenge is his mom’s quest to find the very best help for Moose’s older sister Natalie who today would probably be diagnosed with autism.  As Moose is forced to watch over his sister while simultaneously trying to win and keep friends, he battles to maintain perspective, understand his friendships and care for his sister who has unwittingly become friends with one of the convicts. In a last ditch effort to help his sister get into the Marinoff P. Esther School for people with special needs, Moose, with the help of Piper, writes a letter to Al Capone asking him to pull some strings to make the school accept her. 

Review

Al Capone Does My Shirts is a fantastic story that I really loved.  The pacing of the plot is perfect – never too fast and never dragging. The characters are well developed so that I grew to despise Piper and even struggled to allow her grow through her immaturity and become a true friend for both Moose and for Natalie. The myriad of themes that Moose has to wrestle throughout ring true to the life of any pre-teen working to fit into a new school and neighborhood – even if Moose’s neighborhood includes maximum security convicts like Al Capone.  As a historical fiction, the story was well researched and I thoroughly enjoyed the author’s note at the end which included three interviews with people who were children on the island during the era of the story. Themes of friendship, family dynamics, right and wrong are all interspersed with a healthy dose of humor making this a rich tale that was touching and fun to read.  

  • Ages: 8 – 99
  • Awards: Newbery Honor; California Young Reader Award
  • Pages: 215
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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By Aaron G Myers

Book Review: The Avion My Uncle Flew by Cyrus Fisher

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Synopsis

After an accident on his Wyoming farm that leaves  twelve year old Johnny Littlehorn on crutches, his French mother decides to send him to France, where hopefully better Doctors and fresh air can cure him.  Johnny is not happy to go to France and even less happy when he finds he must spend the summer with his Uncle in the sleepy little village of St. Charmant. However, once he gets there things soon begin to change.  Johnny is fascinated by the “Automatic Airplane ” his Uncle is building, and begins to grow suspicious when mysterious strangers from Paris seem to have followed him to the village.  With the help of his new friends, Johnny begins to uncover what might just be a Nazi plot, and learns how to overcome his injury and the impossibility of the French language.  The Avion My Uncle Flew is a fun, fast paced story of spies, secrets and sabotage set in the French countryside in the years following the Second World War.  

Review

This was one of my favorite books through middle school. The story was exotic and fresh, yet captured my imagination with the same themes of boyish adventure that can be found in classics like Tom Sawyer or Treasure Island.  The themes of overcoming adversity, friendship and discovery run thick through the pages of this book, and set against the backdrop of a serene Alpine village, the book creates a story world that is hard to get out of.  I thought the characters were all exceptionally well developed and the plot, although breakneck and at times somewhat “coincidental”, was well woven and kept me at the edge of my seat.  I found the elements where Johnny had to learn French particularly interesting.  Along the way you might just pick up a few French phrases yourself.  The parts of the book where Johnny is injured and must push through his pain towards recovery could be encouraging to those battling an injury of sickness.  While the main plot is serious, the author maintains a strong thread of humor through the entire narrative.  Overall this book had the makings of a classic – timeless characters, unique setting and a fascinating plot.  I would highly recommend it. 

  • Ages: 9-99
  • Awards: Newbery Honor
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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By Malachi Myers

Book Review: Refugee by Alan Gratz

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Synopsis

Refugee is the story of three kids, Mahmud, Isabel and Joseph, separated by time but connected by a common experience.  Mahmud, a boy who only wants peace, leaves a nightmare in his homeland Syria, to seek a better life in Europe.  Isabel, an ambitious girl who dreams of playing the trumpet, flees Castro’s Cuba in a small raft, with the hope of reaching America.  Joseph boards the ocean liner, St. Louis to leave the life of persecution in Nazi Germany to seek asylum in Cuba, and hopefully, put together the pieces of his broken family.  Although each of their journeys is different, the common thread of the refugee experience weaves through them all, showing what it’s like to risk everything for a chance of a new life.  

Review

I personally thought Refugee was a great book.  There are very few books that describe the refugee experience and this book did it masterfully.  I found it slightly melodramatic at points, but in the context of the plot these scenes were not particularly disruptive.  The characters were equally compelling and all three storylines equally interesting, something that is often lacking in books with multiple main characters.  The book was riveting, the plot and the characters developing at about even rates.  I also liked that although the three stories are separate, they all come together at the end, making the book feel more connected overall.  The author does a wonderful job of capturing the cultural aspects of each of the stories.  The diversity of the stories was also nice, helping break up the narrative. Mahmud’s journey was very much a modern refugee experience, Isabel’s more of a survival thread, as her family floats towards Florida on an overcrowded raft, and Joseph’s almost the opposite of a typical refugee tale, as his family travels from Germany to Cuba on a luxury liner.  However the themes of fear, mistrust, confusion and loss echo through all three storylines.  Overall, it was a wonderfully woven book.  Although written at a middle grade level, it would also be a fascinating read for adults.  Some thematic elements and intense scenes may not be appropriate for young or sensitive children.  

  • Age: 12-99
  • Awards: None
  • Our Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Written by Malachi L. Myers