It took me a little longer than I had hoped (the book fair slowed me down,) but I did read one of our historical fiction books. I chose to start with Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko. Set in the 1930s on the (in)famous Alcatraz Island, a boy named Moose Flanagan struggles with navigating life in this new environment and dealing with his family's unique challenges. The criminals on Alcatraz are always in the background including the island's best known resident, Al Capone.
I found the story to be compelling and relatable, one I could easily recommend to students. The "history" part of the story is carefully managed in a way to create a sense of time and place but not feel like a history lesson. The author did include some notes at the end of the story, which would be of interest to some more curious students.
I plan to book talk this title with my same 6th grade class in the near future and will keep reading from this genre as well. Learn more about these books: Al Capone at Alcatraz.
I found the story to be compelling and relatable, one I could easily recommend to students. The "history" part of the story is carefully managed in a way to create a sense of time and place but not feel like a history lesson. The author did include some notes at the end of the story, which would be of interest to some more curious students.
I plan to book talk this title with my same 6th grade class in the near future and will keep reading from this genre as well. Learn more about these books: Al Capone at Alcatraz.