Al Capone Does My Shirts

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

Moose is a teenage boy living in California in the 1930s. His dad gets a job at Alcatraz and they move to the island in part so his mentally-challenged daughter can have the opportunity to attend a special school. Moose often has to watch his sister, sometimes interfering with his social life. He also associates with the warden's daughter, Piper. In the prison, the convicts do laundry. Some kids get in trouble for trying to sell these laundry services to others. Later they try to meet with Al Capone's mother when she comes to visit. (She ends up leaving before visiting after triggering a metal detector.) 

One day Moose left his sister around for 45 minutes and found her with one of the convicts. This is implied to be Capone. He freaked out when he saw this. There was a rule that they should not associate with convicts. His sister was a teenager, even though she had infantile mental capacity. 

The family learns that the daughter will not be able to attend the special school, in part because of her age. Moose writes a letter to Capone asking for help getting his sister into the special school. Then the family learns that she will be the first to attend the special school for older children. Shortly after, Moose gets a letter from Capone saying that it is "done".

The book shows the struggles of families with members with mental challenges. There are challenges, but also a lot of love involved. Capone is portrayed as somebody that cares about others, even when he is in prison.