Al Capone Shines My Shoes

by Gennifer Choldenko

Book Overview

What do you do when your neighbors are a bunch of hit men, con men, and mad dog murderers? Well, if you're Moose Flanagan, you ask the most notorious convict of them all, Al Capone, for help. But when... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803734603
• ISBN13: 9780803734609
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Dial Books
• Length: 274 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.0" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5 and higher

Customer Reviews

My students LOVE this book! Even more than the first one!

My 7th grade students love this book! We first read Al Capone Does My Shirts and my students, who are reluctant readers, were engaged and completely invested in this book. Which is a huge feat for me to find a book that all my students enjoy and want to read. After the first Al Capone... book we immediately started reading the sequel, Al Capone Shines My Shoes, at the students request. As much as they loved the first book, they enjoy this book even more! It has a new villain in Darby Trixle, Natalie is at Ester P. Marinoff, and Moose actually has contact with Al Capone! They don't want to stop reading! As a teacher, I like any book that engages students but I find myself enjoying this book with the students. Even after the third time I've read it each day. While it is set in 1935, the language and situation the children on the island go through are relatable to today's students. Gennifer Choldenko touches on a lot of relevant issues such as autism, friendship, right/wrong, and forgiveness. Choldenko uses a lot of figurative language, especially similes that make the students (and myself) laugh out loud. This is a fun book and a great read for all students. Especially if you have a reluctant or non-reader. I highly recommend it!

Best sequel ever!

I am so glad I bought this book. I have already given several copies of the first book to teacher friends to use as outloud reading to their junior high classes. I am now retired after 43 years of teaching, but one thing that never changes is kids loving a book read to them. These books not only give them insight into the 1930's, but a glipse at the predjudice and insensitivity of dealing with special needs children. This book also has a wonderful way of showing forgiveness within a "family". The message that everyone makes mistakes, but forgiveness is the glue that keeps you together. What a great story.

An excellent sequel

Moose Flanagan is still the nice boy of the kids living on Alcatraz Island. Their parents are guards--but even they can't quite keep the incorrigible group of youngsters from getting involved where they shouldn't. And getting involved with notorious gangster Al Capone tops the list. When Scarface Al asks Moose for a favor in return for helping Moose's autistic (though that word is never used) sister Natalie into a good school, Moose doesn't know what to do...and the other kids' plans have a way of making the right choice even more difficult to find. Al Capone Shines My Shoes falls into the category of very well-done sequels. Gennifer Choldenko created a unique, stand-alone plot for the second Alcatraz book, while nicely carrying through the elements that she set up in the first. In fact, the plot was masterfully structured; while being filled with action and suspense, each plot point clearly and logically arose from the characters' actions and decisions. Some of the minor secondary characters didn't always ring true, but the main characters were excellent and the interpersonal relationships were well developed. Beyond that, despite its unique and seemingly "hard" setting, Al Capone Shines My Shoes was a beautiful story. I've read very few novels containing a character "on the autism spectrum," to be specific, that was so authentic and genuine--and just as important, in terms of story, in which this character's condition was so intrinsic to the plot. Moose and Natalie have a touching (while still honest and believable) relationship which dramatically demonstrates the immeasurable value of every human being, no matter how society might view them.

A Suspenseful and Genuinely Funny Novel

Twelve year-old Moose Flanagan has an unusual address: Alcatraz Island. He and his family live on the island off the San Francisco coast back in 1935 when it was still home not only to "278 of America's worst criminals" but also to the prison guards and their families. Living and working so closely with the other civilian families on Alcatraz offers opportunity for some tight-knit relationships but also for plenty of misunderstandings, hurt feelings and grudges. No one knows these mixed emotions better than Moose. He's one of the most well-meaning kids you'd ever meet, but he's quickly finding out that you just can't please everybody all the time. His best friend, Jimmy, has started to suspect that Moose's praise of his less-than-stellar baseball skills might not be completely genuine. Annie (who may want to be more than just Moose's friend) is sulking because she has begun to suspect that Moose's friendship might be based solely on her outstanding pitching arm. And Moose himself is starting to believe that introducing his best mainland friend, Scout, to the warden's daughter, Piper, might have sabotaged his own chances at romance with the cute but increasingly moody girl. Moose is also experiencing conflicting feelings now that, thanks to the influence of convicted mobster Al Capone, a prisoner on Alcatraz, his older sister Natalie has been admitted to a special school for kids with autism. He misses his sister, sure, but he also welcomes the freedom of not having to watch or worry about her all the time. And he can now see firsthand how much freer his mother is when she's not saddled with her own worries about Natalie. But when Al Capone calls in a favor from Moose in return for Natalie's placement at the school, Moose's life is about to go from complicated to downright dangerous as he finds himself at the center of an elaborate escape plot. It's no wonder why he's broken out in hives! Is Al Capone a kind, well-meaning inmate or a dangerous schemer? Moose is discovering that with convicts, as with friendships, things are not always as simple as they seem. Gennifer Choldenko's award-winning 2004 novel, AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS, shed light on a fascinating chapter in American history. In this sequel, she continues to explore the intriguing facets of civilian life at America's most infamous prison while bringing new depth to the characters of Moose, his family and his friends. Much of the book's appeal stems from the colorful depictions of the gangsters, thieves and other assorted criminal types who live at Alcatraz and serve as jacks-of-all-trades for the families who reside there, and much of the suspense arises from the tension between these men's generally harmless demeanors and their genuinely dangerous backgrounds. But AL CAPONE SHINES MY SHOES gains added depth by focusing on moral issues: Is it possible to do the right thing by everyone all the time? Can a person be simultaneously a criminal mastermind and a tenderhearted soul? Is there

What? No Reviews Yet? Incredible

It is so rare to find a sequel to a winner that is, itself, another winner, but here it is. Frankly, I expected to be disappointed, as sequels seem to be... well, blech. Not this one! I am not sure how the author manages so well to make a protagonist of the gender opposite hers, sound so real, so believable; but she does. (I wonder if she has taught middle school, or been a den mother, or something like that.) The setting of Alcatraz in the thirties is just as fascinating as it was on her first go-round, and the air of mystery is engendered not only by our knowledge, as we read, that the nefarious Al Capone is lurking, albeit behind bars; the children themselves make even more mystery, suspense, and adventure, as well as a lot of humorous asides! The dialogue is so realistic, and feels genuine--whether it is the kids, talking to each other, or the parents to the kids, or ESPECIALLY, a guard to that famous prisoner! Noteworthy: the continuation of our hero's sister's own special story. This is handled so well, yet so delicately, and is very poignant. Her relationship to each character with whom she comes into contact is dealt with masterfully. I love this book. I did not put it down, until I finished it. I hope it sells a billion copies! It should be recommended to middle and upper elementary readers and should be recommended with gusto!