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Gennifer Choldenko

Goodreads Author

Born

Santa Monica, CA, The United States

Website

http://www.choldenko.com/

Member Since

January 2009

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/alcatrazgirl

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There’s a Lego in my bum which fits with the Lego in my chair and when I sit down to write, I hear the satisfying snap of the two pieces fitting together. I love words, dictionaries, thesauruses, sharp pencils, the smell of book ink and the delicious art of carving out sentences on clean white paper. I love to slip into another person’s skin and feel what it’s like to live another life. I love when characters come to me out of nowhere and make me cry so hard my mascara runs or laugh until my stomach hurts. I love the crazy fun and infinite possibility of storytelling.

What prepared me for a life of writing fiction? Though I have a BA from Brandeis University in English and American Literature and a BFA in illustration from Rhode Island Schoo There’s a Lego in my bum which fits with the Lego in my chair and when I sit down to write, I hear the satisfying snap of the two pieces fitting together. I love words, dictionaries, thesauruses, sharp pencils, the smell of book ink and the delicious art of carving out sentences on clean white paper. I love to slip into another person’s skin and feel what it’s like to live another life. I love when characters come to me out of nowhere and make me cry so hard my mascara runs or laugh until my stomach hurts. I love the crazy fun and infinite possibility of storytelling.

What prepared me for a life of writing fiction? Though I have a BA from Brandeis University in English and American Literature and a BFA in illustration from Rhode Island School of Design, the true answer is probably genes. I come from a long line of Irish storytellers on my father’s side and theatre people on my mother’s. I always knew I loved to write, but it took me a long time to summon the courage to chase the dream. I finally went for it when I realized I would prefer to be a failure at something I wanted to do, then a success at something I didn’t.

While I was pretending I wasn’t a writer, trying to be a nice person with a nice quiet job somewhere, I sold lingerie, lipstick and lamp shades. I wrote junk mail. I taught visually and hearing-impaired kids horseback riding. I held a prestigious job in rubbish removal and I worked in a factory wearing a paper gown while wielding a large mallet on small serving packages of ketchup.

One Third Nerd, my funniest novel yet, is due out in January 2019. My most famous novel, Al Capone Does My Shirts, garnered 20 awards, one of which was the Newbery Honor. The Tales of Alcatraz series has sold more than 2 million copies. What will probably be the last book in the series: Al Capone Throws Me a Curve is the best of the fifteen books I’ve written so far.

I am a fitness fanatic; a book-obsessed, tennis-playing woman who thinks like a twelve-year-old. If I ever get the good fortune to meet you, offer me coffee and I will be your friend for life.
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Gennifer Choldenko’s books

Average rating: 3.89 · 79,094 ratings · 9,525 reviews · 43 distinct works • Similar authors

	Al Capone Does My Shirts (Tales from Alcatraz, #1) 3.84 avg rating — 45,926 ratings — published 2004 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Al Capone Shines My Shoes (Tales from Alcatraz, #2) 4.01 avg rating — 8,521 ratings — published 2009 — 25 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Al Capone Does My Homework (Tales from Alcatraz, #3) 4.12 avg rating — 3,977 ratings — published 2013 — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman 4.48 avg rating — 2,975 ratings — published 2024 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	No Passengers Beyond This Point 3.49 avg rating — 2,979 ratings — published 2010 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period 3.50 avg rating — 2,795 ratings — published 2007 — 24 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Chasing Secrets 3.82 avg rating — 2,442 ratings — published 2015 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Al Capone Throws Me a Curve (Tales from Alcatraz, #4) 4.26 avg rating — 1,323 ratings — published 2018 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dad and the Dinosaur by Gennifer Choldenko (Goodreads Author), Dan Santat (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator) 3.77 avg rating — 1,426 ratings — published 2017 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Notes from a Liar and Her Dog 3.71 avg rating — 1,395 ratings — published 2001 — 21 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by Gennifer Choldenko

Tales from Alcatraz (4 books)
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Gennifer Choldenko (Goodreads Author)

3.90 avg rating — 59,747 ratings

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Gennifer Choldenko rated a book it was amazing The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 28, 2024 07:02AM · 2 likes · like
Gennifer Choldenko is now following Elizabeth and Karen
Dec 23, 2024 06:10PM
Gennifer Choldenko rated a book it was amazing The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 13, 2024 06:03AM · 2 likes · like
Gennifer Choldenko wants to read If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 20, 2024 09:59AM · like
Gennifer Choldenko made a comment on her review of Dogtown (Dogtown, #1) " Lovely to hear that Traci. Thank you! "
Jan 19, 2024 10:03PM · see review

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Quotes by Gennifer Choldenko (?)

“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, Al Capone Does My Shirts

tags: live-in-the-moment, optimism, possibility, uncertainty

146 likes

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

58 likes

“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, Al Capone Does My Shirts

32 likes

See all Gennifer Choldenko's quotes »

Polls

What book should we read in July?

As always, you may write in titles, provided the book is a 2025 Newbery contender and already published.

The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko

33 votes 26.4%

Tree. Table. Book. by Lois Lowry

31 votes 24.8%

Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All by Chanel Miller

16 votes 12.8%

The Enigma Girls by Candace Fleming (write-in)

13 votes 10.4%

Ultraviolet by Aida Salazar

9 votes 7.2%

And Then, Boom! by Lisa Fipps (write-in)

9 votes 7.2%

The Wrong Way Home by Kate O’Shaughnessy (write-in)

4 votes 3.2%

The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Jennifer Choldenko (write-in)

3 votes 2.4%

Across So Many Seas by Ruth Behar (write-in)

3 votes 2.4%

Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All (write-in)

2 votes 1.6%

Tree. Tabl.e. (write-in)

1 vote 0.8%

Not (write-in)

1 vote 0.8%

125 total votes

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