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Al Capone Does My Shirts
Choldenko, Gennifer
Grade 6-8--In this appealing novel set in 1935, 12-year-old Moose Flanagan
and his family move from Santa Monica to Alcatraz Island where his father
gets a job as an electrician at the prison and his mother hopes to send his
autistic older sister to a special school in San Francisco. When Natalie is
rejected by the school, Moose is unable to play baseball because he must take
care of her, and her unorthodox behavior sometimes lands him in hot water. He
also comes to grief when he reluctantly goes along with a moneymaking scheme
dreamed up by the warden's pretty but troublesome daughter. Family dilemmas
are at the center of the story, but history and setting--including plenty of
references to the prison's most infamous inmate, mob boss Al Capone--play an
important part, too. The Flanagan family is believable in the way each member
deals with Natalie and her difficulties, and Moose makes a sympathetic main
character. The story, told with humor and skill, will fascinate readers with
an interest in what it was like for the children of prison guards and other
workers to actually grow up on Alcatraz Island.--Miranda Doyle, San Francisco
Public Library
The Land
by Mildred D. Taylor
The Land is Mildred D. Taylor's wonderful prequel to her Newbery Medal
winner, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. In the stories Taylor has to tell, life
is not fair, hard work doesn't always pay off, and the good guy doesn't
always win. That's because this extraordinary author tells the stories of her
African American family in the Deep South during and after the Civil War, a
time of ugly, painful racism.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Sisterhood of Traveling Pants)
by Ann Brashares
They were just a soft, ordinary pair of thrift-shop jeans until the four
girls took turns trying them on--four girls, that is, who are close friends,
about to be parted for the summer, with very different sizes and builds, not
to mention backgrounds and personalities. Yet the pants settle on each girl's
hips perfectly, making her look sexy and long-legged and feel confident as a
teenager can feel. "These are magical Pants!" they realize, and so they make
a pact to share them equally, to mail them back and forth over the summer
from wherever they are. Beautiful, distant Lena is going to Greece to be with
her grandparents; strong, athletic Bridget is off to soccer camp in Baja,
California; hot-tempered Carmen plans to have her divorced father all to
herself in South Carolina; and Tibby the rebel will be left at home to slave
for minimum wage at Wallman's.
Over the summer
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