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

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.)