More Tales from The Rock: Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko

"DONE."

That's all the note in Moose's laundry had said. "Done." But when Al Capone does your laundry, a note in your pocket is a big deal. Big Al may be confined to a five by seven cell in Alcatraz, but his powers extend far and wide.

That's why twelve-year-old Moose has written Capone a letter, pleading for his help in getting his sister Natalie into a special school which can give her a chance at a more normal life. With that "Done," an acceptance letter soon follows and Natalie is on her way to the Esther P. Marinoff School in nearby San Francisco, and Moose's life with his prison guard father and his mother on Alcatraz Island, heretofore centered around his autistic sister's care, is about to change radically.

But now Annie, who is a crack baseball pitcher and nobody's fool, knows that something is up between Moose and The Rock's most famous prisoner. And then comes another note, one that makes Moose's heart almost stop:

Annie props open the screen door with her foot. "Moose." She gulps. "You won't believe what happened."

"What happened?" I asked.

"We got the wrong laundry. We got yours." she whispers.

"I didn't realize it was your laundry. I started putting it away and...Moose, there was a note in the pocket of your shirt."

"A-a note?" My voice breaks high, like a girl's.

The note is written on the same paper in the same handwriting as the other one.

YOUR TURN, it says.

When Scarface Capone does you a favor, he expects a payback, and when Moose gets that note, his life becomes a misery, waiting for the other shoe, perhaps shined by Al Capone, to drop. First, when Big Al's wife Mae visits him on The Rock and drops her hanky, it's no accident. Then when Natalie comes home for a holiday visit, there is a dread object found in her suitcase, a bar spreader obviously intended to be used in an upcoming escape attempt. "Bottom drawer," says Natalie. "He told me to put it in the bottom drawer. 105, 105, 105." Moose, Annie, and his friend Jimmy know that there's more to that story than they want to know.

The kids are terrified. There is obviously an escape attempt being planned, but if they tell what they know, they fear their fathers will lose their jobs, no minor matter in the Depression of 1935. Trustee inmates are in and out of their apartments often for repairs, and Moose's family's toilet seems always to need the services of Seven Fingers, ax murderer and master plumber, and when the escapee wannabees discover the tool not in Natalie's bottom drawer but part of the toy carousel of six-year-old Janet Trixle, the warden's youngest, the cons are sure to suspect that the kids know more than is good for them.

Secret hideouts, a touch of romance with the warden's pretty but manipulative older daughter, spying on the big reception for FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover, and an exciting prison break scene are all part of Gennifer Choldenko's rousing sequel to her Newbery Honor Book, Al Capone Does My Shirts. Picking right up on the heels of the first book, this one has the same colorfully drawn characters and plenty of suspense as Moose gets his first kiss and Buddy Boy, One-Arm Willy, and Seven Fingers break loose from the cell house and take them all, including Natalie, hostages in their escape plan. But Natalie has powers of observation beyond those of the average kid, and it is she who makes the right connections when push comes to shove.

Choldenko's historical fiction chops are just right in her latest, Al Capone Shines My Shoes (Dial, 2009) one sure to please fans of her first book. Although this novel is plenty strong enough to be read on its own, it would be a shame to miss the fun of reading the two together. As the Kirkus reviewer puts it, "Choldenko hits a grand slam...Effortless period dialogue, fully developed secondary characters and a perfectly paced plot combine to create a solid-gold sequel that will not disappoint."

Funny Money on the Rock: Al Capone Does My Homework by Gennifer Choldenko

No one ever believes I live on Alcatraz. Even my eighth-grade history teacher made me write on the chalkboard "I do not live on Alcatraz" two hundred times. She didn't even apologize when she found out I wasn't lying.

My father had trouble getting his driver's license. They thought he was an escaped prisoner too stupid to fake his address instead of an officer at the most notorious prison in North America.

My friend Annie was kicked out of Sunday school for saying she lived on Alcatraz.

Moose Flanagan is worried. He's used to living on Alcatraz Island, a stone's, or in Moose's case, a baseball's throw, from the Big House, with convicts (even Al "Scarface" Capone) doing their laundry and trustees making repairs in their apartment in Building 64. But when his dad is appointed Associate Warden. Moose has more to worry about than usual. His autistic sister Natalie is now sixteen and in some ways harder to manage than ever, but his main worry is about his father's promotion.

Officer Darby Trixle clearly is angry about being passed over for the job, and his wife, always critical of Natalie's presence, seems to be on a mission to find fault with all of them. And then Piper, the Warden's pretty but pretentious daughter, shows him the cons' point system, found in the kitchen.

SPITTING ON A GUARD = 5
SPITTING ON A WARDEN = 20
MAKING A SHIV = 40
STABBING A WARDEN = 500

Now Mouse has to worry about his dad, too. And then, while sitting with the sleeping Natalie, Mouse drops off to sleep and awakens to find the apartment ablaze. He gets his sister out safely, but most of his stuff, including his history report on President Roosevelt, is gone. And while the family relocates while the cons repair their apartment, other strange events seem to be happening. Mouse finds some bills mysteriously left in the laundry, Piper shows him an expensive cashmere sweater "from her secret admirer," and other people find "gifts" and mysterious bills, tens and twenties, left without a clue. To make matters worse, Mouse's teacher says he has to redo his homework, but even worse, Mrs. Trixle starts a whispering campaign to convince the other residents that Natalie started the fire and that she is a danger to everyone on Alcatraz. Then Mouse finds his history folder suddenly returned to the apartment, with a penciled addition written by Capone himself, a cryptic warning that ends with "It's a state affair."

Mouse and his friend Annie realize that to protect Natalie from being sent away to a residential school, they must discover the identity of the real arsonist, and to do so they must trust Piper, who knows most of what goes on on the Rock. Gradually, they begin to see that the mysterious money is somehow at the root of the mystery.

Then his father is knifed by a convict nicknamed "Indiana," and Mouse realizes what Capone's warning must have meant.

Gennifer Choldenko's third and final book in her series, Al Capone Does My Homework (Dial Books, 2013), has all the qualities--a main character who feels responsible for everything, a mystery set on Alcatraz Island in the 1930s with a cast of believable, colorful, and sometimes murderous characters, among them  Capone, who seems to have taken a shine to Mouse, and a coming-of-age story with all the feelings of a thirteen-year-old protagonist--that earned her first book, Al Capone Does My Shirts its Newbery Honor Medal, and her second book, Al Capone Shines My Shoes rave reviews. This final book in the trilogy is exciting and yet satisfying, with a sense of completion for readers, but also with a sense of regret that the story of Mouse Flanagan has come to an end.  Choldenko spent ten years of her life researching and writing this series, and we can only hope she finds another subject so engaging.

Kirkus Reviews caps it well, saying "A satisfying finale to what has become a cornerstone series in contemporary children's literature."

Father Knows Best: Dad and the Dinosaur by Gennifer Choldenko

Nicholas was afraid of the dark outside his door where the giant bugs lived, and the underside of manhole covers.

His dad was not afraid of anything.

Little Nick wants to be like his Dad, brave and daring, and he has a secret that helps him be that way.

I needed a dinosaur.

Nick has a little toy T. Rex that gives him the fearless nature he desires. When he clutches it in his hand, he feels the power of a dinosaur within.

When Little Nick had his dinosaur in his pocket, he was just as brave as Big Nick.

With his little plastic talisman in his pocket Little Nick courageously climbs to the top of the rock wall. At a a soccer game, he tucks it inside his sock and charges fearlessly down the field, scoring a goal against the rival team's goalie, nicknamed The Gorilla.

But after the game, Nick discovers that his dinosaur is gone. He searches the field until Mom makes him leave for home. Nick's not hungry at dinner, and when he goes to bed without his dinosaur under his pillow, even the dark in his own room seems full of fearful things like those giant bugs in the bushes and the octopus-tentacled terrors under the manhole.

And when Dad comes home late from work, he hears Nick, still twisting and turning in his bed.

"Bad dreams, buddy?" Dad asks quietly.

Nick whispered, "I lost my dinosaur.

He's the brave one. Not me."

"Let's go find him then," said Dad.

There are many things Dad could have said at that moment, sensible things, like "You can look for it in the morning," or "Don't be silly. It's just a plastic toy". But he didn't. What he said was the absolutely right thing at the right time, in Jennifer Choldenko's insightful salute to fatherhood, Dad and the Dinosaur (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2017).

In a late-night expedition that Dad describes only as "guy stuff" to Mom, Little Nick learns from Big Nick that all guys get scared sometimes, and that just goes with the territory. Newbery winner Gennifer Choldenko's sensitive narration tells the sweet story of what dads do best, and Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat's usually bold and avant garde style is muted in his warm illustrations of an ordinary Everyfamily, with more sober and ominous dark tones to evoke Nick's frightful imaginings. Santat also utilizes a huge, shadowy T. Rex overlay on his pages as a sort of reassuring spirit animal that confers a dose of courage when Nick needs it. As Publishers Weekly puts it in their starred review, "Dads get it... being brave takes work and ... a dinosaur." And having a good dad helps, too.

Gennifer Choldenko earned her Newbery Medal for Al Capone Does My Shirts (Tales from Alcatraz), (read my review of her complete Tales of Alcatraz novels here), and Dan Santat took his Caldecott for The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend. (read review here).

All In the Family: One Third Nerd by Gennifer Choldenko

Fifth grade is not for amateurs.

You have to watch yourself. Kids notice stuff. What books you read. What sports you follow. What devices you own. And how nerdy you are.

A little nerdy is good; you can fix the game controller. But if you're the kid who gets the teacher's website up and running so everyone has more homework... that's too nerdy.

Liam figures he's in the safe zone--one third nerdy--but his third-grade sister Dakota's constant wild ideas and inventions are all nerd, and his little sister Izzy has Down syndrome and is an automatic hugger--anybody, anytime--so the chances of being embarrassed at school are almost too much for him. Then there's a new kid in his class, Moses, who's loves tennis as much as Liam does and who even has a tennis club with guest privileges, making it important for Liam to try to keep his sisters away from his new friend.

But Liam and his sisters are united by the need to keep their much-loved German shepherd Cupcake, who has suddenly become inconveniently incontinent, leaving puddles all over their rundown basement apartment. Their grouchy landlord has threatened to evict the family if they don't get rid of their dog, and the vet says Cupcake needs a $3000 lab workup at the local vet school to be cured. Time is running out. Dakota banks on her idea of a drone-powered self-hovering umbrella to win the grand prize at the science fair, and Liam organizes a clean-out of the hundreds of newspapers in his friend Dodge's grandfather's house, in which Dakota discovers a trove of historic front pages to sell on eBay, but they still fall far short of $3000. And then it's Izzy herself who comes up with an alternative solution to their problem.

In her just published One-Third Nerd (Wendy Lamb Books/Random House, 2019), the award-winning Gennifer Choldenko gives middle readers a likable fifth-grade protagonist within a family dealing positively with their problems, most immediately keeping their family afloat and keeping their beloved pet Cupcake. As the oldest, Liam's plate is full, but his family sticks together and he gets more than a little help from his friends.

As in her Newbery-winning Al Capone Does My Shirts (Tales from Alcatraz) and sequels, in this new book, humorously illustrated in humorous black-line spot-art by Eglantine Ceulemans, Choldenko provides upper elementary readers with a main character and family with the humor and cohesion of Bevery Cleary's "sticking-together" Quimbys in her Beezus and Ramona series. "Choldenko's pacing is exquisite... [A] great read," says Kirkus' starred review. "Simply endearing," says Booklist. Just what the doctor (or vet) ordered, I say, for a solid and upbeat realistic fiction novel for middle readers.