I like Moose because he has a funny way of seeing the world. He’s kind and intelligent and he tries so hard to do the right thing. And I like Piper because she’s never apologetic. She’s clever, callous and cunning, not to mention supremely self-centered. But she’s also confident, extremely bright and full of great ideas. What I like best about Piper is how much she loves Moose. Something about the relationship between Moose and Piper fascinates me. There’s a magnetic attraction which brings both their personalities into balance somehow.

Q: What was the most challenging thing about writing this book?

Writing Al Capone Does My Shirts seemed like trying to get 300 dogs to howl all at the same time. For a long time it felt like I was writing two different books. Book one was about Moose’s exterior life, the life on the island and book two was about Moose’s interior life, his life with his family. It was very challenging to weave both those books together and yet it seemed so important because, like all of us, Moose behaves differently among his friends than he does at home. It didn’t seem possible to really see who he was unless we experienced both parts.

I have, quite honestly, never worked on any one project as hard as I worked on Al Capone Does My Shirts. Luckily for me I have a world class editor in Kathy Dawson who really "got" the book. And she kept nipping at my heels until I wrote the book we knew Al Capone Does My Shirts could be.

Q: Where did you get the idea for Al Capone Does My Shirts? And what kind of research did you have to do for this book, if any?

I got the idea for Al Capone Does My Shirts when I read an article in the newspaper about kids who grew up on Alcatraz. These children were the sons and daughters of the guards who worked in the cell house that housed some of America’s most notorious criminals. Within a week of reading the article, I signed up to work as a docent on Alcatraz.

© 2005- Gennifer Choldenko. All rights reserved. If you would like to reuse or reprint anything on this website, please ask the author's permission.