Al Capone Shines My Shoes

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2009

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-9

Chapters 10-18

Chapters 19-27

Chapters 28-37

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Baseball

For Moose Flanagan, the game of baseball offers a much-needed escape from the stresses of his life: “There’s nothing like baseball,” he says, “to get your mind off of things you’d rather not think about” (9). Also, as “America’s pastime” in the 1930s, baseball provides a structured means for the novel’s characters to test their own agility, strength, and sense of self-worth, as well as the roles of others in their lives. For instance, Moose’s friend Jimmy disappoints him with his lack of ability in the game, which leads to a temporary rift between them. Jimmy, it turns out, has been ostracized at school because if “you can’t play ball, you’re no one” (78). He particularly resents Moose for befriending Scout—a gifted player who bullies Jimmy—believing that Moose values Scout over himself solely for Scout’s skill at baseball. Over the following weeks, Jimmy practices throwing a baseball in secret, hoping to eventually win Moose’s respect.

Later, when Piper and Moose debate the relative abilities of boys and girls, Piper cites Annie’s mastery of baseball as proof that girls can be just as capable as boys. Further, at the story’s climax, Annie leverages her virtuosity at the game to help save Moose and others by hitting their would-be kidnappers with stones. At the same time, Jimmy has contributed to the rescue by releasing his enormous collection of flies, blinding the culprits and proving that his own, scientific interests have value as well.

Buttons

In Al Capone Shines My Shoes, buttons (the kind that are sewn onto clothes) are the prized possessions of Moose Flanagan’s neurodivergent sister Natalie, and figure importantly in the story. For many on the autism spectrum, attachments to certain objects function as coping mechanisms; for Natalie, buttons provide a comforting focal point in a world of constant change and overwhelming stimuli. In times of stress, Natalie reassures herself by counting the buttons in her “button box,” or by touching each button in a precise sequence. Her family uses her fixation on buttons to help her develop problem-solving skills and to interact with others, for example, by playing “button checkers”—a game at which she becomes highly proficient. The teachers at Natalie’s school have learned the efficacy of giving her new buttons as positive reinforcement for her progress: as she puts it, “Good day new button” (95).

However, the convicts of Alcatraz also know about her affinity for buttons. Alcatraz 105, aka Onion, hides a “bar spreader” in her suitcase, knowing that the steel buttons she carries as part of her collection will serve as a cover when she takes it through the ferry’s metal detector. This strategy fools both Natalie’s father and Mr. Mattaman, putting their jobs at risk. In addition, in the last pages of the novel, a “man’s” button mysteriously appears on Natalie’s yellow dress, evidently a gift from Al Capone himself, and an ominous reminder that Alcatraz’s “star convict” still has his beady eyes on the Flanagan family.

Jealousy

In Choldenko’s novel, the friendships and self-worth of its preadolescent characters repeatedly come under threat—often not from the physical perils of the prison island but from jealous feelings, e.g., the fear of losing the attention or affections of a friend or loved one because of another. In the case of both Piper Williams and Theresa Mattaman, a new baby brother emerges as a rival for their parents’ love, and both girls react by wishing the new sibling away. Piper, whose father has always “hankered” for a son, while never showing her much affection, feels this jealousy most acutely. Piper also feels jealous of Moose’s friends, with whom she competes, rarely successfully, for his attention. This comes to a head when Moose breaks off a kiss with Piper to leave with Theresa; enraged, she tells a lie about Moose’s and Theresa’s fathers, threatening their jobs.

Around the same time, Moose finds himself on the receiving end of his friend Jimmy’s jealousy, when he brings a schoolfriend, Scout, to the island to play baseball. Not nearly as adept at the game as Scout, Jimmy lashes out, accusing Moose of valuing the other boy over himself. Moose, meanwhile, feels jealous of Piper’s attraction to Scout. These jealous rifts persist for most of the novel, until a series of life-and-death crises restore a sense of perspective to the group of friends.