Al Capone does my shirts

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Moose is watching Natalie one afternoon when little Theresa Mattaman comes to the door and offers to show them around the island. Theresa excitedly tells Moose and Natalie about the famous criminals who are housed there, especially Al Capone. At the morgue, they meet Piper Williams, the warden’s daughter. Piper is attractive and abrasive, and Moose can tell that she is trouble. Moose's family moves to Alcatraz where his dad has taken a job as an electrician. He has a "younger" sister who has autism and the family is trying to get her into a special school. Physical / Personality Traits: How does this character interact with others in the book? What challenges does this character face? 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.

Autism, which is “a disease that affects the way [an individual’s] brain and sensory system work,” was not specifically identified until 1943. In 1935, the year in which the story takes place, children who exhibited its characteristic symptoms were given a variety of diagnoses and were frequently institutionalized. The term autism encompasses a wide range of manifestations. Natalie has idiosyncratic mannerisms, problems in relating to people, and the speech patterns of a preschooler but is nothing short of a prodigy when it comes to numerical calculations, so she would most likely be identified as autistic today. The best description of Natalie's condition is paradoxically provided in the book by a seven year old, Theresa Mattaman. Theresa says: 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. 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. 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.”

It doesn’t end with the family learning how to overcome life’s challenges together; no, that would be too good. Instead, it ends with Al Capone saving the day. That’s right – the convict. One of your negative reviewers mentioned "It's full of vulgar words and very violent." I know some people find the use of "Jesus", when not used as a religious reference, offensive. It occurs three times; there are no other "vulgar" words in the book.

Natalie lives in her own world...sometimes it's a good world and sometimes it's a bad world. And sometimes she can get out and sometimes she can’t. The title! Imagine living on Alcatraz at the same time as Al Capone. Then you find out he washes, mends, and folds your clothes. What stories you could tell for the rest of your life!There’s a Lego in my bum which fits with the Lego in my chair and when I sit down to write, I hear the satisfying snap of the two pieces fitting together. I love words, dictionaries, thesauruses, sharp pencils, the smell of book ink and the delicious art of carving out sentences on clean white paper. I love to slip into another person’s skin and feel what it’s like to live another life. I love when characters come to me out of nowhere and make me cry so hard my mascara runs or laugh until my stomach hurts. I love the crazy fun and infinite possibility of storytelling. 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.