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Al Capone Does My Shirts Source http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-al-capone-does-my-shirts/characters.html#gsc.tab=0 http://www.shmoop.com/al-capone-does-my-shirts/summary.html

Al Capone Does My Shirts is a novel written by Gennifer Choldenko. This book is the first of a three part series. It was published in April of 2006. The novel takes place during the 1930’s. It is a fictional story of a character named Matthew "Moose" Flanagan who is not so thrilled about his family moving from Santa Monica to Alcatraz Island due to his father’s new employment on the island’s prison. Moose’s father has been employed by the prison to be both an electrician and as a guard on the prison’s estate. Moose spends most of his time taking care of his younger autistic sister, Natalie. Natalie gets accepted into the Esther P. Marinoff School, a school that is more capable to cater to her needs. Soon thereafter her acceptance into the school, she is sent back home to her family simply because she was not adjusting to the school too well. Moose then becomes her caretaker once again. Moose begins to make friends with the other kids on the island, including one child named Piper. Piper is the daughter of the Warden to the prison. They build a friendship which involves getting into mischief to distract themselves from being stuck on the island together.

Characters:

Matthew “Moose” Flanagan

Natalie Flanagan- Sister to Moose. Has autism.

Mrs. Flanagan- Mother of both Natalie and Moose.

Mr. Flanagan- Father to both Moose and Natalie. Works at the prison as both a guard and as a electrician

Piper Williams- Daughter to the Warden of the prison on Alcatraz

Theresa Mattaman-

Warden Williams- father of Piper and Warden of the prison. Stern and intimidating as Moose describes him as.

Al Capone- Infamous criminal imprisoned on the island’s penetentary for his crime.

A Girl Named Disaster http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-a-girl-named-disaster/#gsc.tab=0

This was published in 1996 by Nancy Farmer. Farmer won the Newbery Honor for the novel in 1997. This is a coming of age novel for teenagers.

Nhamo is an 11-year-old girl who lives in a traditional Shona village in Mozambique during 1981. Nhamo in the tribes language, Shona means "disaster". Nhamo was given this name because of the luck and negative talk that surrounded her mother. After a outbreak from a dead cholera epidemic, a leopard, and a prescribed marriage proposed by a fraudulent witch doctor, she escapes with her dying grandmother's blessings. Nhamo steals a boat along with its supplies to survive. She encounters wildlife animals during her adventure to become a woman. The trip on her boat down the river was suppose to take two weeks ends up taking a full year as she survives the best she can with her skills out in the wilderness.

Characters[edit source | edit]

Nhamo Jongwe: The girl named "Disaster". She got her name due to the many disasters she faces during her life, even as a child. However, Nhamo is resourceful and clever, in spite of the bad luck she supposedly causes.

Aunt Chipo: Nhamo's disgruntled aunt. She has had a genuine hate for Runako, Nhamo's mother who passed and Chipo's older sister for many years. She has hated Nhamo and her mother ever since she was born and forces her to do most of the work in the village, allowing her daughter, Masvita, to do the less strenuous tasks.

Masvita: Aunt Chipo's daughter. She treats Mhamo politely, even though her mother doesn't.

Aunt Shuvai: Nhamo's aunt.

Uncle Kufa: Nhamo's uncle and Aunt Chipo's husband.

Ruva: Masvita's youngest sister.

Crocodile Guts: A man who helps Nhamo escape the village

Sister Gladys: A nurse who takes care of Nhamo in the latter part of the book.

Muvuki : A witch finder

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-the-mostly-true-adventures-of-homer-p-figg/#gsc.tab=0

This novel was published by award winning author Rodman Philbrick. This humorous story is heavily influenced by historical events in America during the 1860's. It is about the adventure of a boy, named Homer P. Figg, who runs away for the sole purpose of finding his brother, Harold, who was sold into the Civil War. In the novel, Homer encounters many people during his quest to find his brother. During his travels he meets Quaker who is a smuggling slaves out of the country.

Characters:

Homer P. Figg- Main character to the story.

Harold FIgg- Older brother to Homer that gets sold into the war as a drummer boy

Plot
Dead End in Norvelt is written by author Jack Gantos. It was published in 2011. Although the author shares the character's name and lived in Norvelt as well, It is a fictional novel. It is about a boy named Jack Gantos who lives with his parents in a small town located in Western Pennsylvania, Norvelt. The story takes place during the summer in 1962. Jack’s summer is ruined due to an incident where he was playing "soldier" with his father's sniper rifle from the Japanese in WWII. With a bullet in the chamber, Jack misfired the rifle into a drive-in theater while one of Jack's favorite war movie was showing. This mistake, along with him mowing down his mother's cornfield (it was under his father's request in order to make space for his bomb shelter and a runway for his J-9 plane), causes him to be grounded for the entire summer by his parents. His parents laid out some ground rules for his punishment. The only time he is allowed to leave the house is if it is for his chores or if it's to help their neighbor, Miss Volker. Miss Volker is an elderly woman who is the town's medical examiner who made a promise to Eleanor Roosevelt to write the obituaries for all the original settlers of Norvelt. She wrote these obituaries until her arthritis disables her to continue and that's where Jack comes in as he is appointed as her scribe. Jack writes for Miss. Volker and drives her around when she needs him to. The first drive was to Mrs. Dubicki's home when she is assumed dead by one of Miss Volker's spotters. Jack and Miss. Volker arrive at the house with he intent on sneaking into the home and checking in on Mrs. Dubicki's status. Miss. Volker can't sneak into the house since she is older and doesn't want to startle Ms. Dubicki since Miss. Volker is seen as the bearer of bad news in the town. So Jack is sent in disguised as the Grim Reaper. Jack discovers that Ms. Dubicki was just asleep and tells the "Grim Reaper" to come back for her after her grandson's graduation. One week later, after her grandson's graduation, she passes.

A "John Doe" from the Hell's Angels is killed in a odd manner as he started convulsing/ "dancing" for almost three miles until falling onto the ground in the middle of the road, only to be crushed and killed by a cement truck. Since no one knew who he was, the Mr. Huffer cremated his body. Miss Volker wrote a short obituary in the paper for him. Soon thereafter, the rest of the John Doe's Hell Angel's chapter drives into town to collect the cremated remains of their fallen brother, they also steal a casket from the funeral home. They "curse" the town and all of it's people agonizing deaths. It is then revealed that Miss. Volker, sold her sister's home in Norvelt to the John Doe who was killed. The John Doe had plans of making Miss. Volker's sister's home into a Hell's Angels Clubhouse. So, the gang assumes someone killed their friend in order to disrupt that from happening. The gang rides into town again with their loud chopper motorcycles in the middle of the night burn the home they purchased to the ground as a statement to the town. The motorcycle gang continues to commit arson in the middle of the night on the empty Norvelt homes for the next couple of days.

On Jack's birthday, Miss Volker gives him her car as a gift under one condition, its all his after she dies. She does a procedure on Jack to stop the common nose bleeds he gets whenever he gets nervous/ scared. It works for one nostril until later in the novel she does the procedure again and works completely. Jack finds out Mr. Huffer is buying all the empty homes in Norvelt and shipping the entire house to Elanor, West Virginia because as his daughter Bunny explains it, "it is a bigger town and more people there and business is better there". Bunny convinces Jack sneak out of his house during the night and go on a stake out to watch over the empty homes that are in danger from being burned down from the Hell's Angels. The two encounter a Hell's Angel member as he sets another house on fire and escapes. Bunny alerts the other civilians with her girl scout whistle and Jack dashes home before his mother even noticed he was gone.

More bodies of elderly original Novelt folk turn up dead from "natural causes". The county police are now involved with a investigation of the string of deaths. It is revealed that it was Mr. Spizz poisoning the people with 1080 Vermin poison (also known as Sodium fluoroacetate). Mr. Spizz then frames Miss Volker by making her the prime suspect to the murders by exposing her to the police that she owns the poison and evidence of it's recent use in her garage. The real reason the poison was recently used was because she has been killing the vermin in her garage with it. The police place Miss. Volker on house arrest under Mr. Spizz supervision until they can find more evidence. Mr Spizz ties Miss Volker in her basement and confesses all the murders he has committed the past two weeks in the town. He was poisoning the last original Norvelters by mixing 1080 poison with their food. He was doing this because of a old promise Miss. Volker made to Mr. Spizz many years ago, stating that they would marry when she has completed her promise to Elanor Roosevelt. He leaves town and in the sixth hour of his getaway from the law, Mr. Spizz calls Jack to inform him that Miss. Volker is still tied in her basement and request to let her free. Jack reveals Miss. Volker's innocence by being her alibi and showing the officers that the recent use of 1080 poison was from her recent vermin infestation that has been going on in her household. Jack finds out Mr. Spizz took the car Miss. Volker was planning on giving him as the getaway car. The officers of the town are now in pursuit of apprehending Mr Spizz. Jack's summer long punishment is lifted by decree of his parents because of the events that unfolded. The story ends with Jack playing baseball with Bunny and then gets into the J-9 plane with his father for a "test drive".

Characters

 * Jack Gantos- Main character of the book. Young kid who lives with his parents. He is an only child. He has a condition where whenever he gets too scared, or gets too excited, he gets a severe nosebleed.


 * Miss Volker- Elderly woman who is a neighbor to Jack and his family. She is a medical chief examiner for the town. She made a promise to Mrs. Roosevelt years ago to stay in Norvelt and to write obituaries for every original Norvelt settler. When he promise is complete, she plans to move to Florida with her sister. Her hands don't work like they used to and so she had Jack help her write the obituaries.


 * Mr. Spizz- A man who also made a promise to Mrs. Roosevelt to upkeep the town of Norvelt. He is the volunteer officer, fireman and does any other job that has to do with keeping order and cleanliness of the town. Him and Miss. Volker dated years ago and were even engaged to marry before the town of Norvelt was built. He rides around town in a "adult tricycle".


 * Mr. Gantos/ Dad- Jack’s father who went to WWII. He is now a contractor for a construction company and works odd hours.


 * Mrs. Gantos/ Mom- Jack's mother who caught him shooting the rifle into the drive-in theater screen. She calls Jack "Jackie" at times. She wishes things can go back to the old days of Norvelt when it came to payment. She tries to barter with goods and services rather than with actual currency.


 * Will- Jack's uncle who has some mental issues since coming back from World War 2. It is revealed later that he was the one who left a bullet in the chamber in the rifle Jack misfired into the drive-in theater.


 * D. Mertz- Norvelt's town doctor.


 * Mrs. Dubicki- Elderly woman who has a bad heart. She was thought to be dead by one of Miss. Volmer's followers. After sneaking into her home, dressed as the grim reaper (it was the only disguise they had) Jack found out that she was just asleep. She her final words to Jack was a request to stay alive just long enough to see her grandson graduate. A week after their encounter, she passed away from a heart attack.


 * Bunny- Female friend of Jack whose family owns and works the town's funeral home. She is not afraid of death as she sees it everyday. She encourages Jack to be more brave.


 * Mr. Huffer- Bunny's father. Works at the funeral home and sees Miss. Volker often in their line of work.


 * Mr. Greene- Works for the paper Miss. Volker submits her obituaries to. Jack hands every obituary in person to Mr. Greene. He is the first to assume that the residents aren't dying, but are being killed.

Critical Reception
Many critics found "Dead End in Norvelt" to be a enjoyable read with Josh Lacey of The Guardian saying "Gantos has a relaxed style and writes very enjoyably, peppering the pages with good jokes and eccentric characters-". http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jun/29/dead-end-in-norvelt-jack-gantos-review

Awards
John Newbery award 2012