The hot pursuit of malign and indomitable Great-Aunt Beauregard, the Coggins’ only living relative, forces all three to leave the troupe for further flights and misadventures. Alas, the budding engineer barely has time to settle in to begin work on an experimental circus wagon powered by chicken poop and dubbed (with questionable forethought) the Autopsy. Where? To the circus, of course.įortunately or otherwise, John and 6-year-old Page join up with Boz-sometime human cannonball for the seedy Wandering Wayfarers and a “vertically challenged” trickster with a fantastic gift for sowing chaos. The dreary prospect of spending a lifetime making caskets instead of wonderful inventions prompts a young orphan to snatch up his little sister and flee. (lengthy author’s note with footnotes to sources) (Fiction. Fascinating setting as a metaphor for Moose’s own imprisonment and enabling some hysterically funny scenes, but a great read no matter where it takes place. Basing her story on the actual experience of those who supported the prison in the ’30s-when Al Capone was an inmate-Choldenko’s pacing is exquisite, balancing the tense family dynamics alongside the often-humorous and riveting school story of peer pressure and friendship. His mother focuses all of her attention on ways to cure the sister his dad works two jobs and meekly accepts the mother’s choices his fellow island-dwellers are a funny mix of oddball characters and good friends. He cares for his sister who is older, yet acts much younger due to her autism and he finds his life alternating between frustration and growth. Super-responsible Moose, big for 12, finds himself caught in the social interactions of this odd cut-off world. Moose’s world is turned upside down when his family moves to Alcatraz Island where his Dad has taken a job as a prison guard.

Al capone does my shirts series order