Al Capone Does My Shirts

Monday, January 7, 1935

Moose is on his way to his new school and is miserable because the only person he will know there is Piper, whom he considers an enemy. Moose assumes his chances of making friends are small. When Moose walks into class, his teacher, Miss Bimp, thinks he’s “big for seventh grade” (43) and asks him whether he was held back. The whole class laughs and Moose is hot with embarrassment. She tells him to sit “in the back so [he] doesn’t block anyone’s view of the board” (43).

During the students’ presentations, Moose writes a note to a student named Scout asking him if he plays baseball. Scout writes him a note back telling him where to meet later—the baseball team needs more players.

In her presentation, Piper brags about singing a solo, describes the infamous convicts at Alcatraz, and tells everyone that Moose lives at Alcatraz too. In his presentation, Moose tells the class that he moved to Alcatraz over Christmas vacation and that a convict served him dinner: “‘He could have been killed,’ Piper says in a stage voice” (46).

After class, Piper asks Moose to help her with her school project, which turns out to be an unethical moneymaking scheme: