Al Capone Spot treated and Ironed My Shirt...

When I first started reading Al Capone Does My Shirts I was a little bit worried that I wasn't going to like the novel.On the very first page the Gennifer Choldenko writes, "I'm not the only kid that lives here. There is my sister, Natalie, except she doesn't count." I immediately jumped to the conclusion that this book was going to portray negative stereotypes of people with disabilities. I was also confused for a little bit at the beginning of the novel as to what disease Natalie had. My opinion of the book changed quickly, but I wanted to discuss a few things that I question or found interesting.

One thing that I questioned, but was also interesting, is the choice of the author to never explicitly say that Natalie has autism. I'm not sure why Choldenko would do this? The only possible solution I could create is that it helps to keep her disability universal. By not saying autism can children with disabilities other than autism relate to her? Can children without disabilities relate to her? It would be interesting to find out the author's reasoning for this decision.

The second thing that I found interesting and questionable was the role of prisoner 105. It was implied that he was attempting to rape Natalie, creating an unsafe environment. Will children understand what is being implied? Is it okay for children to understand or not understand? Is it crucial to the novel? How will children who have been affected by rape feel when reading this section? I also felt like knowing 105s age might have made the connection/relationship more believable.

Despite these questions, Al Capone Does My Shirt, is a realistic depiction of autism in a positive uplifting story.