AL CAPONE SHINES MY SHOES

Moose Flanagan is a good-natured 12-year-old growing up on Alcatraz in 1935, where his father works as a prison guard. With a youthful tone, Kirby Heyborne expertly delivers a full portrait of Moose and his emotions. These include his guilty relief that his autistic sister, Natalie, has left the island to attend a special needs school, his alternating attraction and infuriation with the pretty warden's daughter, and his palpable fear that Al Capone wants a favor in return for his having helped to get Natalie into the new school. Heyborne creates multiple convincing characters, including the vindictive Officer Darby Trixle; Moose's friend Jimmy, who prefers breeding flies to playing baseball, and Natalie, whose autism (a disorder not recognized in 1935) causes her to spin out of control in stressful moments. Heyborne doesn't miss a crucial detail. A.B. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2009]