Disability, Dignity, and Shared Humanity
Al Capone Does My Shirts follows 12-year-old Moose, who moves to Alcatraz Island with his family so Dad can work as an electrician there and so his sister, Natalie, can attend the Esther P. Marinoff School in nearby San Francisco. Author Gennifer Choldenko has said that today, Natalie would likely be diagnosed with severe autism, a diagnosis that didn’t exist in 1935 when the novel takes place. Natalie behaves in ways that people…
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Friendship and Community
Twelve-year-old Moose is distraught when his parents move his family to Alcatraz Island so Dad can take a job as an electrician at the prison. Moose was happy back in Santa Monica, where he got to play baseball and ride bikes with his friend Pete whenever he wanted. However, as part of her latest scheme to help Natalie (who’s severely autistic), Mom insists that Moose take Natalie everywhere with him like he would “a normal…
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Family
While much of Al Capone Does My Shirts focuses on Moose’s friendships with people outside of his family, the novel is, at its heart, a family drama. Moose’s older sister, Natalie, has what author Gennifer Choldenko has said would be diagnosed today as severe autism, and the stress of caring for Natalie and managing her condition affects the family in myriad ways. Mom throws herself into doing whatever she believes will help Natalie…
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Growing Up and Doing the Right Thing
Over the course of 12-year-old Moose’s six months on Alcatraz Island, he grows up. The novel links Moose’s burgeoning maturity to his developing understanding of what it means to do the right thing. At first, Moose believes that doing the right thing—and being a good person—means following the rules and doing as he’s told. He thus resists getting involved in Piper’s rule-breaking schemes to make money off of Alcatraz’s infamous prisoners, and he…
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