Customer Reviews

The Children of Alcatraz: Growing Up on the Rock

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CHILDREN OF ALCATRAZ: GROWING UP ON THE ROCK doesn't focus on the usual prison history of the island, but on how it also served as home to many children, from Native Americans to lighthouse keepers, prison guards and beyond. Photos of generations of such children who grew up there blend with memoirs, interviews with the surviving Alcatraz Kids, and history to provide a fascinating survey adults as well as kids will want to pursue.

This book is an exciting look at Alcatraz. How many people knew that children lived on Alcatraz? Surely, not many. I love how Claire Rudolf Murhpy seamlessly includes enough detail to bring the island to life during each era of children living upon the island. With gangsters like Al Capone and the Bird Man living there, would you want your child living on the island? Find out the how and why of the children living there. Both adults and children will love this book.

Every reader who enjoyed "Al Capone Does My Shirts" should be steered to this book. Claire Rudolf Murphy gives a fascinating survey of the progression of "communities" at different times in history in her book about the "Children of Alcatraz." Following native Americans, the earliest families to live there were those of the lighthouse keepers in the 1850s, then the military came. When the island was transformed into a high security prison in 1934, the families of guards lived there until 1963. It isn't known whether any prisoner ever survived an escape attempt; the prison was considered a fortress, and the Bay formidable.

There was another stressful period from 1969 to 1971 when Native Americans occupied the island to protest the injustices of U. S. law. This protest lasted eighteen months. The stories of each group are of great interest and pictures are particularly helpful in implementing these. Reviewer mcHaiku is always surprised at the very small acreage of the island & the many buildings, including cell blocks, in close juxtaposition. Living in such extraordinary circumstances brought about close friendships and later reunions strengthened those unique relationships.

Alcatraz Island is not so much a symbol of the city's past but more a multiple historic marker. Today, of course, it is a destination for curiosity-seekers, but all visitors will be surprised by the wide interest generated which can also stimulate many enthusiastic searches for more information via a computer or library. Author Claire Murphy may have inspired many readers to discover why the island was originally named "Pelican" - - and it had nothing to do with the "Birdman of Alcatraz" either.

I had expected a bit more in depth description of the life of the children, so was disappointed. It was purchased for my grandson as he hopes to visit Alcatraz and felt it would give a new dimension to his understanding. It will, but not as much as I had hoped.