By: Noah Bahnick

 1) The first piece of text evidence I found was on Page 42, paragraph 5, where it says “the teacher is writing on the chalkboard.” Today we don’t use chalkboards in school on a regular basis. This is because we have moved on to better technology like smart boards and HD projectors. Chalkboards today are typically used just for kids’ entertainment.

 2) My next reference is found on page 45, paragraph 8, where it says, “Miss Bimp raps her pointer stick so hard, she practically breaks it before people settle down.” I don’t know of any classrooms where pointer sticks are used today. Teachers aren’t allowed to show any type of violence nowadays. If they use any kind of pointer it would be a laser pointer.

 3) Another text evidence reference is on page 47, paragraph 3. Piper is talking to Moose about the prices for their laundry service and she says, “We will charge five cents a shirt.” Today kids wouldn’t wash people shirts because they wanted to, but if they did, they would charge more than 5 cents.

 4) On page 5, paragraph 6, it says, “There’s no phonograph in this apartment.” Moose is looking around his new room and is not very excited about it. The phonograph was invented in the late 1870s and was used into the 1930s and beyond to play records. Record players are used infrequently now. CDs and digital recordings are the formats most used today.

 5) There is a picture in the book right before page 1 that labels buildings and locations on the island of Alcatraz. On this map it shows a baseball field. This shows that baseball was around in 1935.

 6) On page 9, paragraph 4, it says, “She taps the old icebox.” Mrs. Flanagan is telling Moose to go get some ice so they can keep their food cold. An icebox is essentially a refrigerator, but instead of using electricity, it is filled with ice. Now in modern time we power our fridges with electricity.

 7) On page 25, paragraph 4 it states, “But somehow the big ex-army steamship called the Frank M. Coxe is still there.” This is the boat used to transport people to and from the island. Today in modern times if you want to travel across water you don’t wait for a steamship to pick you up. Your boat would be powered by gasoline or diesel fuel. Or you can swim if you want!

 8) Another piece of text evidence is found on page 44, paragraph 1. It says, “Within seconds, I’ve dipped my pen in my inkwell.” This refers to Moose writing a note in school. Obviously feathers and inkwells are not used anymore because they were replaced by pens.

 9) On page 83, paragraph 5, it says, “I mutter as I make a cup with my hands and run water into it, then rinse the tooth powder out of my mouth.” Today we don’t use tooth powder anymore because we have moved on to stuff that is better for you and easier to use like tooth paste.

 10) The last reference I found is on page 117, paragraph 3. It says, “Teresa puts on her skates.” Today roller skates have evolved into roller blades, but the concept still remains.