Al Capone Does My Shirts

He has an autistic sister called Natalie. They move to an apartment at “The Rock” after their father is able to work as an electrician at Alcatraz. What follows after are the series of escapades that Moose experiences which exposes him to several scrupulous deals making him compromise his integrity.

Moose is intrigued that Al Capone lives in one of the prison cells where he lives and so are the other children. They eagerly pay money to have their clothes laundered by Scarface. He still has connections with other people behind bars of Alcatraz and he is able to help Moose.

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Moose reasoned in a manner that proves quite helpful in the sense that there is a cognitive behavior that the child manifests through obvious exploring and reconstruction of past events. Most of the children there are receptive to new learnings once new opportunities present themselves.

The presence of these dangerous criminals in the midst of children, even if these dangerous elements are locked up, give a sense of inner exhilaration to readers who never know what to expect next. Moos Flanagan himself is witty and funny, which makes his character blend well with the other characters in the story.

The family experiences several difficulties as it tries to balance their day revolving around Natalie who is afflicted with autism and their other child.  Thus, there is a strange kind of blending between the children of the prison guards and a story that elicits compassion for a children’s story book. It may seem to be quite heavy on the criminal side of the men in prison, but the author gives us a natural, almost necessary kind of kindness for these men who also manage to show kindness to these people.

Delinquent activities is not really a normal process of growing up but it is most of the time an impact of a different kind of peer pressure that young people experiences. Young people have different experiences of puberty and adolescence and this experience is in part influenced through the support systems that surround young people.

Most of the time, the family or other support systems would not be able to provide effective support system in terms of development of self-image; young people acquire affirmation through peers and other groups. In their wish to feel that they ‘belong’ to a group they commit deviant behaviors (Juvenile Crime).

This means that in general, it is not really a normal process, but rather an impact of the difficulty of the family structures to support young people at this important stage of development towards adulthood. Children act like sponges in terms of imbibing information and acquiring knowledge—a generalization that seems to hold whether they are learning how to speak or how to display emotions.

It is not a curse for Moose to be responsible as he is wont to think. It balances with his family and environment so he still grows up well-rounded. It has been mentioned that families who are mentally and physically healthy are fundamental to a child's optimal growth and education.

The kindness of prisoners melts the hearts of readers as Al Capone himself arranges for the help he is going to give readers. Natalie is brought to other families where she learns to interact like any normal child would do. Even if the daughter of the warden is presented as manipulative, yet the author manages to give him a soft heart for the punishment.

Of course, we cannot discount the fact that some children have become more aggressive, which is directly correlated with the escalating prominence of violence among adults. Moose’s father warns him to do good for his sister but Piper, the warden’s daughter makes his life miserable by involving him in a moneymaking scheme to have their schoolmates’ clothes laundered by convicts.

Piper even goes to the extent to telling schoolmates that Al Capone, the great gangster, may even be the one to wash their clothes.

The story is heart-rending as readers are afforded a glimpse of the relationship between Moose and his sister. We see the concern he has for his sister and is worth emulating. The setting of the story, even is quite serious for a children’s book prepares young readers for more serious themes as they grow up.

Children acquire abilities to aggression more readily through constant exposure because they tend to imitate what they constantly see or read. Without doubt, the story plays a potent role on how children respond to different circumstances that they may have watched, read, or listened to.

Oftentimes, the behaviors depicted in this story are extremely aggressive. Yet, this story breaks the belief that children believe that aggression is the only solution to a particular situation they are in.

Living in a time and culture in which violence infuses numerous facets of society in both fiction and reality—verbal, visual, overt, and implied—and considering the ubiquity and prevalence of all forms of violence around us, exposure to serious themes through the children’s books evidently casts some negative impact upon children. Yet, this book becomes a compassionate read that makes children want to emulate the kindness shown by the main character, Moose.

REFERENCE

Choldenko, G. (March 30, 2004). Al Capone Does my Shirts. Putnam Juvenile

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