50 Fun Facts About Al Capone Does My Shirts

Which crime earned the real Al Capone of Al Capone Does My Shirts an eleven-year federal prison term?

Tax evasion brought Capone down in 1931, when a jury convicted him on five counts. He reached Alcatraz in August 1934, only months before Moose's family arrives.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, what sets off the metal detector when Al Capone's mother comes to visit?

Her corset trips the alarm, and the search that follows rattles the old woman so badly that she sails back without seeing her son. Moose feels awful for her.

At the end of Al Capone Does My Shirts, what does Moose find tucked inside a freshly laundered shirt?

A one-word note is all Moose finds, the only reply he ever gets to his secret letter. The novel never says outright who wrote it.

The real Al Capone of Al Capone Does My Shirts played which instrument in the Alcatraz prison band?

Banjo was Capone's instrument in the Rock Islanders, a band of inmates that gave Sunday concerts for the other prisoners. Good behavior earned him the spot.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, what does Natalie Flanagan keep in a treasured box and endlessly rearrange?

Buttons are Natalie's prized possession, and she knows each one so well that she can tell at a glance which is missing. Taking the box away sets off her worst tantrums.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, which convict's number does Natalie keep repeating near the rec yard?

105 is the number on the back of a trusted convict who befriends Natalie and hands over the stray baseball Moose has been hunting for. Moose is terrified to find them together.

Which nickname of Al Capone appears in the title of chapter fifteen of Al Capone Does My Shirts?

Scarface came from three knife slashes to the left side of Capone's face, and he loathed the name. In that chapter Moose watches a line of convicts climb the steps and picks out the gangster.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, what does Moose's smuggled letter ask Al Capone for?

A school place for Natalie is all Moose asks for, hoping the gangster's connections can sway the Esther P. Marinoff School after it turns her down a second time.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, how does a frightened Moose sleep on his first night beside the prison?

Fully dressed is how Moose goes to bed, ready to run if a convict gets into the apartment. He wakes the next morning still in his clothes.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, which treat does Natalie ask for every day but rarely get?

Lemon cake is Natalie's daily request, so Mrs. Flanagan bakes one as a send-off on the morning she leaves for boarding school. The author's website even shares a recipe.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, Natalie's condition is never named, but what does the author call it today?

Autism was not a diagnosis families were given in 1935, so the Flanagans chase one supposed cure after another, from heat treatments to a special boarding school.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, which California beach city do the Flanagans leave behind for Alcatraz?

Santa Monica is the home Moose misses, along with his best friend Pete. The novel's author was born in the same city.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, Moose's dad works as a prison guard and in which other trade?

Electrician is Mr. Flanagan's real trade, but work was so scarce in the 1930s that he takes on guard shifts as well. Moose complains that he is hardly ever home.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, what is the real first name of the narrator everyone calls Moose?

Matthew became Moose when he was five and Natalie gave him the nickname. He was tiny then, but by twelve he stands taller than his dad.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, which new friend at Moose's San Francisco school invites him to play ball?

Scout is the first friend Moose makes at school, and the after-school game is the one place he feels free of worries about home. The friendship cools when Moose has to stop playing.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, on which day is the weekly ball game Moose joins at his new school?

Monday is game day, which turns into a sore point once Moose has to mind Natalie every afternoon. A later chapter title grumbles that it never rains on that day.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, which job of his mom's leaves Moose minding Natalie after school?

Teaching piano in the city helps pay for Natalie's new specialist, but the lessons fall in the afternoons, so Moose has to give up his after-school games.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, which secret about Natalie does Moose finally admit while walking Piper home?

Her actual age is sixteen, though Mrs. Flanagan has told everyone ten for years, fearing nobody will help a disabled adult. Piper says the island kids had already guessed.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, which trick of his mom's does Moose use to calm Natalie's worst tantrum?

Rolling her in a rug calms Natalie until her body stops fighting. Afterward she speaks in full for once, asking to go outside.

Which genre best describes the novel Al Capone Does My Shirts?

Historical fiction blends invented characters with a real past: the Flanagans are made up, but the island prison was real, and an afterword sorts fact from invention.

Which author of Notes from a Liar and Her Dog went on to write Al Capone Does My Shirts?

Gennifer Choldenko sold her first manuscript at thirty-three, and this was her second novel for middle-grade readers. It later grew into a whole series set on the island.

Al Capone Does My Shirts was named an honor book for which top American children's literature prize?

The Newbery Medal committee picked the novel as an honor book in 2005, and it went on to spend more than six months on the New York Times bestseller list.

Which era is the backdrop of Al Capone Does My Shirts, explaining why Mr. Flanagan takes two jobs?

The Great Depression made work so scarce that an island full of convicts counts as a lucky break. Moose's dad warns that if he loses the post, the family has nowhere to go.

Al Capone Does My Shirts is told from which narrative point of view?

First person keeps readers inside Moose's head, so they never learn more than he does about what goes on behind the cell house walls. It also leaves the ending a puzzle.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, which neighbor knocks on the Flanagans' door and takes Moose on a tour of Alcatraz?

Theresa is only seven, yet she takes charge from the moment she appears, reeling off the famous prisoners and their crimes as they walk.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, which building is the first stop on Moose's tour of Alcatraz?

The morgue comes first because, as Moose's young guide explains, the kids are forbidden to talk to living prisoners but nobody minds about dead ones.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, which nickname for Alcatraz is the title of the first chapter?

Devil's Island heads chapter one, where Moose spends his first uneasy night. Wire reports were using a similar label when Capone himself arrived there in 1934.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, what does Piper tell a guard the bulging laundry bags on the ferry are for?

A science project is Piper's breezy lie when an off-duty guard named Trixle asks why the kids are hauling big sacks of washing to school.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, why are Piper's customers let down when the convict laundry comes back?

Everything looks ordinary, with nothing to show that a famous gangster ever touched the washing, so most of the kids say they will not bother again.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, which relative takes Piper in after the laundry scheme unravels?

Her grandmother has Piper for several weeks, and though Piper insists she chose to go, Annie suspects it is a punishment. She is back by late March with a new scheme.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, how does Al Capone's mother quiet a wailing baby on the ferry to Alcatraz?

She sings a lullaby in Italian while cradling the baby, who stops crying at once. The kids had come to gawk at a gangster's mother, and her tenderness leaves them shaken.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, what does Piper hope to get from Al Capone by using Natalie's convict friend?

His autograph is the prize Piper has in mind, and she is already talking about selling prisoners' signatures before Moose can shut the apartment door on her.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, why may Natalie's convict friend roam outside the cell house?

His sentence is nearly up, so the guards trust him not to run with freedom this close. Piper passes that on after trying to talk to the man herself and being ignored.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, which part of a book does number-loving Natalie most enjoy having read aloud?

The index is Natalie's favorite. When she curls up and refuses to move on the way to her new school, Moose reads one wrong on purpose and she follows him, correcting every page number.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, what does Natalie do after waking early that gets her sent home from school?

Natalie screams for an hour, and the headmaster, anxious about his neighbors, tells the family to fetch her that same night. The trouble began when staff took away her favorite collection.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, which specialist tells the Flanagans to let Natalie mix with other children?

Carrie Kelly is the first helper whose advice visibly works, and Natalie grows calmer and more talkative. Moose later phones to thank her.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, how does the Marinoff School finally make room for Natalie?

A new branch opens for older children, and the headmaster phones to invite Natalie as its very first student. Moose avoids the warden's eye when he hears.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, which outfit, banned on the island, does Natalie put on one hot afternoon?

A bathing suit is off limits because the sight is thought too distracting for the prisoners. Moose only gets Natalie into her dress by promising to take her swimming later.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, what does the warden threaten if the island kids pull another stunt?

Their parents lose their jobs if it happens again, the warden warns. Piper, who dreamed the scheme up, is seen whispering in his ear as the others file out.

What first gave the author of Al Capone Does My Shirts the idea of children growing up on Alcatraz?

A newspaper article in the San Francisco Chronicle described kids who grew up there while the penitentiary was still working. Early drafts had two other island boys before Jimmy and Annie replaced them.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, which headmaster phones to say Natalie must leave his school that very night?

Mr. Purdy gives the news to Moose, who takes the call himself, and later hands Mrs. Flanagan the name of a specialist to try instead.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, where does a visiting relative, never welcome again, suggest sending Natalie?

An asylum is the relative's idea, and it makes Moose's mom so angry that the woman is never welcome again. Moose tries to tell himself the Esther P. Marinoff School is different.

Before becoming the federal penitentiary of Al Capone Does My Shirts, Alcatraz spent decades as what?

A military prison stood on the island for decades before 1934, when it reopened as a federal penitentiary for the country's hardest cases. Moose arrives within months of the change.

Which member of the author's own family helped inspire Natalie in Al Capone Does My Shirts?

Her sister Gina had the same condition as Natalie. The author says she felt raised by her siblings and deliberately writes about such bonds in her books.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, which university once ran tests on Natalie but offered no help?

UCLA doctors shaved Natalie's hair and ran test after test, then offered nothing. Moose says things got rough at home afterward.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, what gadget is Jimmy Mattaman building when Moose first meets him?

A marble-shooting machine is Jimmy's invention, and it sums him up: he is happier tinkering than throwing a ball, which he does badly when Moose starts a game of catch.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, what does Moose borrow from Piper to write his letter to Al Capone?

Her typewriter is what Moose uses the next day, even though Piper warns that she once tried writing to the gangster herself and never heard back.

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, what does Natalie draw over and over on the eve of her school interview?

The moon is Natalie's newest fixation, and she rips the pictures up when her nerves take over. A walk outside with Moose heads off the tantrum her mom dreads.

Al Capone Does My Shirts made the shortlist of which British prize for children's books?

The Carnegie Medal shortlist included the American novel in the year Millions took the prize. A high school in England also picked it as a whole-school read.

While researching Al Capone Does My Shirts, the author served on Alcatraz in which role?

A docent guides visitors around a historic site, and the job let her soak up the history of the island, its inmates and the staff who lived beside them.