Al Capone Does My Shirts

The problem sometimes is that I fall so in love with a title, that the book cannot possibly compare. This is one of those books. It was good - a cute YA book about dealing with a sibling with severe autism. Alcatraz loosely features as a supporting character, mostly in cameo.

What I enjoyed most about this book is that the narrator actively views his autistic sister as a person with thoughts and desires, which is a trait that many books about autistic people lack. Moose advocates for his sister Natalie in the face of his mother believing that Natalie can become indistinguishable from typical people.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was not contained in the narrative itself but in an afterword. The afterword by the author describes autism and then goes on to stress the importance of intensive behavioral therapy for autistic children, which seems at odds with the narrative's theme of accepting that an autistic person like Natalie who is not “indistinguishable from peers” deserves respect of her interests and feelings. Intensive behavioral therapy would involve taking Natalie's buttons away (as seen in the book). Moose returns to Natalie her button collection whenever possible, because he realizes that there is nothing inherently wrong with Natalie finding enjoyment from reading indexes and from touching and organizing buttons–unlike Mrs. Flanagan, who tries to stamp out Natalie's interests with what is very likely to be the kind of intensive behavioral therapy the author advocates in the afterword.