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Alcatraz Island is one of the most infamous places in American history. The maximum-security prison on the "Rock," once home to criminals like Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, and the Birdman of Alcatraz, has long since captured our country's imagination. But what few people realize is that during the past 200 years, Alcatraz was not only home to criminals—it was home to many children, too! Over the years, the island has been home to the children of Native Americans, lighthouse keepers, military soldiers, and prison guards.
Imagine playing hide-and-seek in the prison morgue, having a convict as your babysitter, or having Al Capone as your neighbor. This compelling photo-essay profiles generations of children who had the unique opportunity of growing up on this isolated island in San Francisco's shadow. With personal anecdotes, revealing interviews with the surviving Alcatraz Kids, historical documents, and archival and family photographs, Children of Alcatraz reveals a one-of-a-kind childhood sure to fascinate readers young and old.
Imagine children growing up on an island called Alcatraz in the middle of San Francisco Bay where criminals were housed in a maximum security prison. After visiting this infamous island, author Murphy became interested in writing a book on this subject. She wondered how children could thrive and grow in a place where famous criminals such as Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, and the Birdman of Alcatraz were being punished for their crimes. But the author found out through historical documents and archives, family photographs, and interviews with the surviving children that growing up on the island wasn't that bad. Most of the children's fathers were prison guards, and in order to keep the families together they were allowed to live on the island. There were many rules to follow, but the children were allowed to live fairly normal lives. They played, explored those parts of the island they could, had parties, went to school, and made friends. The author also discusses the history of the island from before 1854, its use as a military prison in 1861, then a U.S. Penitentiary called Alcatraz in 1934-63, the closing of the prison, other transitions, and its status now as a National Historic Park. The survivors' stories, plus many black and white photographs of the children, their families, and historical figures highlights a time and place young readers will find interesting. Further reading and a timeline are included.
| Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
| $99.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub |
Anna Joanna
reviewed Children of Alcatraz: Growing up on the Rock on May 05, 2014
Children of Alcatraz: Growing up on the Rock
Non fiction books are are not made up stories. They can take the forms of biographies, informational books, text books, kids books, graphic novels and many more. Children of Alcatraz: Growing up on the Rock is not just about kids growing up on Alcatraz, it is also about the history of the island. Alcatraz is a famous prison on an island off the coast of San Francisco. The book tells facts about Alcatraz from 1854 to present day. The book is organized in chronological order and each chapter is a about a different time in history. There were photographs of the kids, the prisoners, newspaper articles, and maps. at the end of the book there is a resources page, a timeline of events, and an index. Most of the book is about the kids lifestyle on the island. They were living on the island because usually their fathers worked at the prison. Some other mentionable people that they spoke about was Al Capone who was a gangster from Chicago and was arrested in the early thirty's and Frank Lee Morris who was put in jail for the first time at age thirteen. He was also one of three people to ever escape from Alcatraz. This book is interesting because whenever people think of Alcatraz they think about how the worst criminals in the world were put there but the most interesting thing about Alcatraz was that there was kids learning, playing, and even living there as well.
Something that I felt was interesting about this book was that I never knew that kids were living on the island. I think the reason that I kept wanting to read it was the fact that I could never picture myself living on an island full of the worst criminals in the world. Something that I thought could have been improved was that I wish the book could have had a little more information about the relationships between the kids living on the island and the prisoners. I thought that the fact that the book had about two to three photographs on each page made the book more interesting and understandable. It helped me visualize what it would look like to be on the island better than it would have if was just text on a page. The author seemed credible because she knew a lot about Alcatraz and just wanted to share the facts. Somebody who likes to read about historical non-fiction would find this book enjoyable. I would give this book four stars out of five stars because it was not only an interesting book but it kept me wanting to read more.
Murphy, Claire Rudolf. Children of Alcatraz: Growing up on the Rock. New York: Walker, 2006. Print.
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