Review Thursday: Children's Fiction

Al Capone Shines My Shoes (2009)
Gennifer Choldenko

Moose Flanagan and his family live on Alcatraz. His father is a guard there and his autistic sister, Natalie, goes to a special school in San Francisco. Moose becomes concerned when he gets a note from inmate Al Capone who wants a favor for getting Natalie into a special school. What will Al ask for? Then when Moose discovers a bar spreader in Natalie’s suitcase, he really starts to worry. If he tells an adult, his father might get fired. What can he do about each problem? If you want to find out more about living on Alcatraz, check out Children of Alcatraz: Growing Up on the Rock by Claire Rudolf Murphy.

Zoobreak (2009)
Gordon Korman

Savannah Drysdale’s pet monkey Cleo disappears from her house. She and her friends Griffin and Ben take a school trip to a floating zoo where Savannah discovers a monkey that she swears is Cleo. The three children decide to pay a visit to the zoo at night and get Cleo out of her cage. They are successful but Savannah wants to release all the poor animals. Can they set all the animals free without getting caught? Where will they put all of them? Pair this book up with Cyberia by Chris Lynch.

Notes from the Dog (2009)
Gary Paulsen

Fourteen-year-old Finn is uncomfortable around people until a graduate student named Johanna shows up to house sit next door. Finn likes her and gains confidence after she encourages him to start and maintain his own garden. Johanna plans to raise money for breast cancer (which she’s dealing with) by participating in a triathlon. Unfortunately she becomes sick the night before and is unable to be in the race. Finn and his friend Matthew decide to help her. Can they find a solution? Another book recommended is Holding at Third by Linda Zinnen.