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

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was scheduled to give a speech before Congress with which he hoped to garner support to enter WWII, but there had been threats on his life. He needed an armored car to make the trip from the White House to the Capitol. Legend has it, the FBI had Al Capone’s Cadillac in the impound lot, specially built to protect the gangster, and it was used to transport FDR. From this little bit of legend, author Michael Garland has built a middle-grade level picture book that introduces its intended audience to a lot of facts about these two powerful men from very different backgrounds. Garland starts at the beginning of each man’s life and contrasts what each goes through on his way to gaining success and power in very different ways — FDR from a very wealthy, well-connected family and Capone born to poor, immigrant parents, one of nine children. Readers get a glimpse of things that led each man along his specific path and helped him to gain his particular brand of fame. This is an interesting approach to history. The striking illustrations by Garland will set this apart from other picture books.