Thank you for the opportunity, and making this book available to me, but this title did not fit my reading needs at this time.

Prisoner in Alcatraz by Theresa Breslin is the story of Marty, a young man who has been sent to Alcatraz, the famous prison off the coast of San Francisco in which famous gangsters like Al Capone went to back in the day. I found it really interesting to read of Marty's experiences that led him to become a prisoner in Alcatraz. It really felt like a series of really unlucky choices that led Marty into the criminal life. And those bad choices continue within the walls of Alcatraz prison as Marty is conned into helping with a prison escape.

I really enjoyed this story. I've visited Alcatraz and seen the conditions that the prisoners dealt with and also noted the distance between where Alcatraz sits on this rock in the San Francisco bay and how far a prisoner would have to travel to get to land. And yet I was on the edge of my seat watching this attempt at escape play out.

What I really liked about Prisoner in Alcatraz is that it seems to highlight the different every day choices that everyone has and the consequences of those actions. Marty's story moved pretty quickly, there was plenty of action to engage readers and by the end I was generally interested in Marty's story and what would become of him. He made some poor choices in life, but my heart went out to him. Very interesting story!