If I could say why I preferred 'Al Capone' over 'Rules' I would say I saw more character development in Moose and he was a likable kid. The author gave him a great sense of humor and great character traits. Natalie was also seen to get help and grow. They both had stable lives and the parents were very involved in their growing up.

Religious Profanity - 12 Incidents: For Pete's sake, goodness' sake, cripe's sake, thank God, oh my God, Sweet Jesus, Jeez, chrissake, Gee Natalie’s birthday is the day before her critical second interview at Esther P. Marinoff. Mrs. Flanagan has instructed Moose to keep his sister calm no matter what. Natalie is content, drawing moons on a piece of paper, but then she becomes frustrated and the “forces inside her seem to collide.” Moose notes that “her eyes are leaving.” In a frantic effort to divert her attention, he opens the door and calls her; valiantly fighting against losing control, Natalie follows Moose. After a while, she heads off on her own toward the place where she meets 105, and Moose cannot stop her. The convict is there. He sees Natalie, calls gently to her, and takes her hand. Moose looks on, watching his sister “holding hands with a man not much older than she is,” and sees that what is “so strange, so awful" is at the same time "so...normal...terrible...good.” The story, told with humor and skill, will fascinate readers." -- School Library Journal , starred review Moose likes a girl who tends to get him in trouble because he likes the way she looks. Moose is twelve; preteen kids don't always think about consequences. One of your negative reviewers mentioned "It's full of vulgar words and very violent." I know some people find the use of "Jesus", when not used as a religious reference, offensive. It occurs three times; there are no other "vulgar" words in the book.Al Capone Does My Shirts opens with Moose and his family moving to Alcatraz where his dad got a job as both prison guard and electrician. His mom teaches music lessons. And, they are there so his sister can get into a special school in San Francisco that might help her. Okay, so the whole Al Capone element is obviously pretty compelling—who doesn't get excited to read about infamous gangsters?—but Al Capone Does My Shirts dives into much more important territory: namely, autism. Natalie lives in her own world...sometimes it's a good world and sometimes it's a bad world. And sometimes she can get out and sometimes she can’t.

Conversation Topics - 18 Incidents: Mentions rapists. “They even have a cr*pper in each tower so the guards don’t have to come down to take a leak.” “I had gone to take a leak…” A girl is mentally slow and has behavioral issues. She throws tantrums often to get her way (often times because she doesn’t know how to communicate). She is very good with numbers. (Her behavioral issues are throughout the entire book). Mentions that Capone “beats the traitors to death with a baseball bat.” At her best, Natalie is “present” to what is going on around her and communicates with rudimentary words and phrases that are purposeful and not just rote reproductions of what other people say. At her worst, she is withdrawn and unreachable, entering into a state of catatonic unresponsiveness when the elements in her world overwhelm her. Through Natalie, the author communicates with remarkable clarity that the more extreme behaviors of autistic children are not primarily disciplinary issues but are the result of altered sensitivities that can spiral out of control. On the day before her second interview at the Esther P. Marinoff School, Natalie engages in a poignant struggle not to “leave” as “the forces inside her seem to collide.” Although on this occasion she manages, with Moose’s help, to redirect her attention and avoid a complete meltdown, a few days earlier, she had lost herself to a violent, incoherent tantrum. During her fit, Moose could see through her eyes that she was “trapped,” and it was only when he rolled her tightly in a carpet that the turbulence that terrified her subsided. Wrapped securely and protected from her own volatile reactions, she seemed to feel safe and lay “shaking, grateful, and forlorn.”

Here's an awesome little history lesson on the infamous Al Capone, courtesy of none other than the FBI. He was one bad dude, that's for sure, though he met a pretty meager ending. What prepared me for a life of writing fiction? Though I have a BA from Brandeis University in English and American Literature and a BFA in illustration from Rhode Island School of Design, the true answer is probably genes. I come from a long line of Irish storytellers on my father’s side and theatre people on my mother’s. I always knew I loved to write, but it took me a long time to summon the courage to chase the dream. I finally went for it when I realized I would prefer to be a failure at something I wanted to do, then a success at something I didn’t. With a name like Al Capone Does My Shirts, I was settled in for a good light read, not. Not that it isn't an easy read but there is pathos in this story of Moose Flannagan. Moose is the brother of a severely challenged sister, Natalie, who cannot function in society and is sometimes entombed in her own frightening world to the exclusion of even her family. It doesn’t end with the family learning how to overcome life’s challenges together; no, that would be too good. Instead, it ends with Al Capone saving the day. That’s right – the convict. I really felt like I was on the island with them, as well. Having it set on Alcatraz is really cool and you learn a lot about the island in the 1930s -- and of course, it's funny!