Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

Moose Flanagan and his family move to Alcatraz Island when his father gets a job as an electrician at the prison. His mother hopes to send his autistic older sister to a special school in San Francisco but when Natalie is rejected by the school, Moose must take care of her. He gets in trouble when he goes along with a moneymaking scheme dreamed up by the warden's pretty but troublesome daughter.

2005 Best Books for Young Adults selection

The writer obviously cares about historical accuracy- she includes a section in the back of the book that explains where the facts may have been stretched (even going so far as to point out the weather that she using in the book does not reflect the weather of 1935). Author handles Natalie's autism with sensitivity and care. Very good coming of age story- though I was disappointed with the lack of appearances by Al Capone.