Two Men and a Car: Franklin Roosevelt, Al Capone, and a Cadillac V-8

by Michael Garland

Overview

It is December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt leads a nation in crisis.

He must make a speech to a joint session of Congress that will build support for America’s entry to World War II, but to do that he needs an armored vehicle in which to make the short trip from the White House to the Capitol Building. According to legend, the car Roosevelt rode in that day, borrowed from the FBI’s impound lot, was an armored Cadillac V-8 built for gangster Al Capone in the late 1920s to shield himself from enemies. Is the legend true, or is it an American tall tale in the tradition of Paul Bunyan or John Henry? Either way, it’s an ideal vehicle to compare and contrast the lives of two American men who grew up within miles of one another: one a great president, the other an infamous villain.

F&P Level Y

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780884486206
Publisher:	Tilbury House Publishers
Publication date:	03/12/2019
Pages:	64
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 11.30(h) x 0.70(d)
Lexile:	1150L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

Michael Garland (Patterson, NY) is the illustrator of 75 children’s picture books, half of which he also wrote. Miss Smith and the Haunted Library is a New York Times bestseller. Other recent books include Tilbury's A Season of Flowers, and Daddy Played the Blues, Lost Dog, Tugboat, Car Goes Far, Fish Had a Wish (starred review from Publisher’s Weekly), Where’s My Homework?, and Grandpa’s Tractor (selected for the Original Art of Children’s Book Show by the Society of Illustrators in New York). He has illustrated bestselling picture books for James Patterson, Gloria Estefan, and other celebrity authors, and his illustrations for Patterson’s Santa Kid were the inspiration for Saks Fifth Avenue’s Christmas holiday window display in New York City. Garland’s Christmas Magic has become a seasonal classic and is currently in development as an animated Christmas special. Michael makes school visits across the country.

Editorial Reviews

01/21/2019

Garland (A Season of Flowers) uses a car to link two men who made very different headlines during the first half of the 20th century. Legend has it that President Franklin D. Roosevelt, on his way to deliver his “Day of Infamy” speech to Congress in 1941, rode in mobster Al Capone’s bulletproof Cadillac, 10 years after it had been confiscated by the U.S. government. A compare-and-contrast narrative describes how the two intelligent and ambitious New Yorkers, born 17 years apart, chose divergent paths. Their biographies intersect in a few interesting and little-known ways: Roosevelt was a wealthy only child who graduated from Harvard; Capone had eight siblings and once held a job at a dancehall called the Harvard Inn. “Roosevelt was a determined politician who fought his opponents with ballots” faces a page that declares, “Capone was a determined gangster who fought his opponents with guns.” Scratchboard-style illustrations in muted hues offer realistic portraits of the men and depictions of the era. An extensive timeline contextualizes the major events of their lives, and a further reading list concludes this comparison of contemporaries: one famous, the other infamous. Ages 10–12. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

03/01/2019

Gr 4–6—Garland presents the life stories of president Franklin Delano Roosevelt and notorious gangster Al Capone, whose lives are said to be linked by a single Cadillac V-8. A study rooted in contrast, this title examines the histories of these two notable figures side by side from birth to death, alternating between their timelines as it progresses. The narrative structure highlights the difference in circumstance between Roosevelt, a child born into wealth and privilege who achieved political success as an adult, and Capone, one of nine children born to immigrants, who failed to complete school and embarked on a life of crime that eventually led him to Alcatraz. Layered illustrations combine the look and feel of scratchboard art with subdued, nostalgic tones that call to mind vintage photographs and newsprint. This style is effective in drawing the reader into the time period, though it occasionally makes captions layered directly on top of illustrations difficult to read. Back matter includes a color-coded Roosevelt-Capone timeline and a resource list. While the stories presented here are interesting in their own right, the link is tenuous; readers discover this at the very end when Roosevelt's trip in the confiscated V-8 is described as an "urban legend," confirmed by the author's note. The car, though a titular character, receives little more than a passing mention throughout. VERDICT An unusual read that will mainly interest history buffs curious about the specific time period and human subjects.—Darla Salva Cruz, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

School Library Journal

2019-01-15

A custom-built, bulletproof limo links two historical figures who were pre-eminent in more or less different spheres.

Garland admits that a claim that FDR was driven to Congress to deliver his "Day of Infamy" speech in a car that once belonged to Capone rests on shaky evidence. He nonetheless uses the anecdote as a launchpad for twin portraits of contemporaries who occupy unique niches in this country's history but had little in common. Both were smart, ambitious New Yorkers and were young when their fathers died, but they definitely "headed in opposite directions." As he fills his biographical sketches with standard-issue facts and has disappointingly little to say about the car itself (which was commissioned by Capone in 1928 and still survives), this outing seems largely intended to be a vehicle for the dark, heavy illustrations. These are done in muted hues with densely scratched surfaces and angled so that the two men, the period backgrounds against which they are posed, and the car have monumental looks. It's a reach to bill this, as the author does, a "story about America," but it does at least offer a study in contrasts featuring two of America's most renowned citizens. Most of the human figures are white in the art, but some group scenes include a few with darker skin.

The car gets shortchanged, but comparing the divergent career paths of its (putative) two riders may give readers food for thought. (timeline, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 10-12)

Kirkus Reviews