Back of Book: 

Murderers, Mob Bosses, and Convicts...

Today I moved to a twelve-acre rock covered with cement, topped with bird turd and surrounded by water. 

I'm not the only kid who lives here. There's my sister, Natalie, except she doesn't count. And there are twenty-three other kids who live on the island because their dads work as guards or cook's or doctors or electricians for the prison, like my dad does. Plus, there are a ton of murderers, rapists, hit men, con men, stickup men, embezzlers, connivers, burglars, kidnappers and maybe even an innocent man or two, though I doubt it. 

The convicts we have are the kind other prisons don't want. I never knew prisons could be picky, but I guess they can. You get to Alcatraz by being the worst of the worst. Unless you're me. I came here because my mother said I had to.  

Book Number: One 

Genre: Middle Grade | Historical 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

Back of Book: 

When I first moved here, I thought all the bad guys were on one side of the bars and all the good guys were on the other. But lately, I’ve begun to wonder...

Moose’s family moved to Alcatraz so his father could work as a guard and his sister could attend a special school in San Francisco. Living on an island with a few hundred no-name hit men, con men, and mad dog murderers (and a handful of bank robbers, too) has its challenges. Like Officer Darby–who seems to have it in for Moose; Jimmy–who feels jealous of Moose’s baseball friend Scout; Annie–who demands that Moose fess up to a secret that could get his family kicked off Alcatraz; and Piper, the warden’s cute, danger-loving daughter–who is as mad at Moose as often as she is sweet on him. By comparison, Willy One Arm and Buddy Boy, the cons who work at the warden’s house, and Seven Fingers, the ax murderer who helps his family out when their toilet is stopped up, don’t seem all that bad. 

But the line between good and bad is much clearer than Moose realizes. And if he doesn’t figure it out soon, he could be in a world of trouble.  

Book Number: Two 

Genre: Middle Grade | Historical 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

Back of Book: 

Life as a guard's son on Alcatraz Island in 1936 comes with its own set of problems, especially when your sister isn't like most sixteen-year-olds and your mother will do anything to prove otherwise. But for Moose Flanagan it's even more complicated when his dad gets promoted to associate warden—the number two spot on the whole island. The cons have a point system for targeting prison employees—with wardens at the top—which means Moose's dad is now in real danger. 

When a fire starts in the Flanagans' apartment, Moose's sister gets blamed, and Moose is determined to find the real culprit. If he doesn't, no one in Moose's family will be safe. 

So Moose and his friends begin working on their own to crack the mystery of how the fire started. They're up against a creepy eyebrow-less prisoner, a world famous con man, and the island's crankiest guard. But maybe, with the help of a cockroach or two, they'll stay a step ahead of the warden's task force, which may or may not be committed to finding the truth. 

Book Number: Three 

Genre: Middle Grade | Historical 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

Back of Book: 

1936. Alcatraz. The roughest hard-time prison in America. No one ever escapes. 

Not even prisoner #85: Al Capone, the most dangerous criminal in the country. 

Moose Flanagan's father is the assistant warden, so his family lives on the island. It's the summer before he starts high school, and Moose is trying really hard to get on the baseball team. The captain wants something from Alcatraz, and if Moose can get it, he and his best friend will make the team. The problem? The captain's demand is impossible. 

Meanwhile, Moose must keep an eye on his fragile older sister, Natalie, as well as the warden's two-faced daughter, Piper, who has a crush on him. He winds up in a terrible jam and the only way out is terrifying. 

Moose has to learn to stand up to people: His parents. The Warden. Piper. Even Al Capone. 

And then Moose gets the pitch of a lifetime and delivers a hit no one on Alcatraz will ever forget. 

Book Number: Four (Last Book) 

Genre: Middle Grade | Historical 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟