Quotes from Al Capone Does My Shirts

Gennifer Choldenko ·  225 pages

Rating: (35.9K votes)


“Nobody knows how things will turn out, that's why they go ahead and play the game...You give it your all and sometimes amazing things happen, but it's hardly ever what you expect.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“Now I understand. When you love someone, you have to try things even if they don't make sense to anyone else.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“Life is amazing, isn't it? You can't ever tell what will happen. Nobody knows until they go ahead and play the game.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“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.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“I haven’t seen you for three whole months,” I say. “Two months, twenty-two days, twenty-two days,” Natalie calls out.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts



“What they say about females being the weaker sex is the biggest lie in the world.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“It doesn’t matter that I weigh more than both of them put together. I know when I’m beat. I let Natalie open the door.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“I’m big as a linebacker, and a seven-year-old girl treats me like her errand boy. Does she smell weakness on me?”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“Sure. I’ve been to hundreds of morgues. Thousands of them, in fact.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“She ignores me. Clearly there’s no stopping her until she’s read every last word.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts



“Oh, we have everyone who is bad. Except Bonnie and Clyde on account of their being dead,” she says.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“What is this guy . . . nuts?”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“My face turns red just seeing her. She’s a looker. If Pete were here, he’d whistle.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“What else can she do?” she asks. “She’s not a trick monkey.” “She’d never make it as a trick monkey. She only has one trick,” Piper says. “487 times 6,421 is 3,127,027,” Nat says.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“When’s your birthday, Piper?” I ask. “November sixteenth.” “1922?” “Yep.” “Natalie, what day of the week was Piper born?” “Thursday,” Nat says without looking up. “That right?” I ask Piper. Piper doesn’t answer, but her eyes open wider.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts



“He’s the one ought to have his head examined.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“We are all born with the ability to make our own choices. But once you make the wrong choice, other people make your decisions for you. 18.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“This is the right thing to do, I tell myself. But I don’t believe it. This is another one of my mother’s crazy ideas. I feel sick to my stomach. I want to pull my hand away, but I don’t. I keep walking. Good Moose. Obedient Moose. I always do what I’m supposed to do.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“I feel like marching into my parents’ room and shaking my mom. How could you send her to that place without her blanket?”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“Change is hard. It’s hard for you, it’s hard for me, it’s murder on your sister.” His voice breaks.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts



“The convicts wash my shirts, as in murderer convicts and kidnapper convicts, and then I’m supposed to wear them?”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“They darn socks too?” “Yes, as a matter of fact. Do a better job than your mom too. Though don’t you dare tell her I said that.” “Murderers outsew my mother?” “Apparently so.” My dad laughs.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“Sometimes it seems easier to be Natalie. People force her to do stuff. I have to force myself.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“It’s like a prison. Okay, it is a prison. There’s the problem right there.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“voice comes out high like a girl’s. I never know whether I’m going to sound like Mickey Mouse or the giant on top of the beanstalk.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts



“I’m not the only kid who lives here. There’s my sister, Natalie, except she doesn’t count.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


“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.”
― Gennifer Choldenko, quote from Al Capone Does My Shirts


About the author

Gennifer Choldenko
Born place: Santa Monica, CA, The United States
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Thunder sounded, very near, and the child woke.”
― Donna Woolfolk Cross, quote from Pope Joan


“I have a theory about marriage, Monsieur Boustouler. And it's that nearly always you will know within two weeks if it's going to work. It's astonishing how many people remain shackled for years, decades even, in a protracted and mutual state of self-delusion and false hope when in fact they had their answer in those first two weeks.”
― Khaled Hosseini, quote from And the Mountains Echoed


“A robin lighted on a blackthorn at my elbow, and began to sing. The sound came high and sweet and uncaring through all the noise of battle. To this day, whenever I think of the battle for Kaerconan, it brings to mind a robin’s song, mingled with the croaking of the ravens.”
― Mary Stewart, quote from The Crystal Cave


“I am completely half afraid to think.”
― Flann O'Brien, quote from The Third Policeman


“Lay not the blame on me, O sailor, but on the winds. By nature I am as calm and safe as the land itself, but the winds fall upon me with their gusts and gales, and lash me into a fury that is not natural to me.”
― Aesop, quote from Aesop's Fables


Interesting books

Maitreyi
(12.9K)
Maitreyi
by Mircea Eliade
Raja Gidh / راجه گدھ
(1.7K)
Raja Gidh / راجه گدھ
by Bano Qudsia
Flags of Our Fathers
(43.5K)
Flags of Our Fathers
by James D. Bradley
Sin Undone
(24.7K)
Sin Undone
by Larissa Ione
The Gay Science
(10.5K)
The Gay Science
by Friedrich Nietzsche
Tower of Dawn
(39.9K)
Tower of Dawn
by Sarah J. Maas

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.