Rating: 
Summary: A real journalistic approach...
Review: (By the way, I'm an adult, and this is my review of a "teenage" novel, so if you're a kid who wants to read what other kids think of this book, you're welcome to ignore this review.)
I loved Robert Cormier's classic novels when I was a teenager. I didn't think his world was bleak. I just thought it was straightforward, and I even remember thinking (all the way back then) that he wrote like a newspaper reporter writes: clean sentences, openings that grab you, spare word usage, economical description. The Rag and Bone Shop, his last published novel, is all of that. Just like some of Mr. Cormier's other books, it straddles an awkward space between "children's" or "teenage" fiction and a real adult sensibility. This one is especially uncomfortable, as it often takes on the perspective of adults (and their career or romantic concerns), and I felt those sections quickly shot into predictable territory. I kept wondering if this was the finished work that Mr. Cormier wanted it to be. It felt truncated, unrealistic. But I have to admit that I zipped through it the way you would an interesting feature article in the newspaper.
Rating: 
Summary: A Very Superb Book
Review: Jason Dorrant is 12 years old and something of a misfit. He is considered "slow" by most of the kids in town. He is shy and he doesn't like to answer questions in class. He doesn't have many friends his age. He likes to hang out with little kids like his 7-year-old friend Alicia Barlett. She and him liked to do Jigsaw Puzzles but one day, after Jason after visiting Alicia he finds out that the visit that he made, was made on the day Alicia was murdered. Unfortunately for Jason, he has not alibi! Jason says the murderer was the last person to see her alive but the entire town thinks he was! Will they be able to get him to confess? Or maybe Jason is innocent.
I really enjoyed the way the author (Robert Cormier) made it seem as if Jason was completely clueless the entire time that he was the prime suspect for the crime. When Jason is brought into the detective's office, it took him a little bit to long to figure out what exactly was happening. I enjoyed the way that the book was written as if the plot was over only a course of 3 or 4 days. Most books make it seem as if the book's plot is supposed to be taking over a year. I didn't like the way that the author never let the reader really meet Alicia Barlett. I didn't get a sense of what her character was like. Other than that, there weren't very many aspects of this book that I didn't enjoy. This was one of the best books that I have read all of this year. It was very suspenseful and one of those books that you just can't find yourself putting down.
Rating: 
Summary: The Rag and Bone Shop
Review: Jason Dorrant is a young boy in middle school. He never shares his answers in school and is extremely shy. He doesn't have many friends and hates attention being on him. He loves his sister, and family; his sister and him have a great relationship between each other. He saw Bobo Kelton touch Robecca Tolland in an odd way. He wasn't going to let that slide, so he hit Bobo in the face. This is when everything turned around. Later he found out that Alicia Barlett was killed. He was friends with Alicia, and was the last person to see her. Since he was the last one to see her he got the blame. Every one in town was suspicious of him.
This novel had many things that I enjoyed in it. I liked how it kept you on your toes because everything kept turning around. The story was like a roller coaster. It had many great points and some bad. There were greater points then the horrible ones. It was descript, but it still got to the point. The characters all had many great attributes about them and painted a 3D picture in your head.
I didn't enjoy a couple things in this novel. The story switches from one person to the next. So it was hard to tell whom telling the story. The plot confused me, but it all came together at the end. It wasn't that interesting in the room where Jason was being tested until the end of the scene. It was just boring; it had some great points though.
All in all I would recommend this novel. The overall aspects are exceedingly high for the title. It is creepy at times when you think about the murder, but it was mature enough to not get to scary. It had many intelligent ideas, but also an easy read. If you like a something interesting but short this would be a good idea. The writing concept was formal and nice to read.
Rating:
Summary: A fine finale to Cormier's career.
Review: Robert Cormier's final novel, THE RAG AND BONE SHOP, takes its name from a line in a poem by William Butler Yeats --- "I must lie down where all the ladders start/In the foul rag?and?bone shop of the heart." In this novel, Cormier explores the lengths to which a person might go. In the end, both of the book's main characters discover they have gone too far.
Jason Dorrant is 12 years old and something of a misfit. Quiet and shy, he is more comfortable around younger children than around his peers. For this reason, he is considered "slow" by people in his town. Jason has some friends, but they tend to be little kids like his 7?year?old pal Alicia Bartlett. THE RAG AND BONE SHOP reveals what happens after Alicia is discovered dead.
It turns out that Jason had visited Alicia the day of her death. Jason wants to do all he can to help the police catch her killer. He agrees to tell them everything he knows. The police, meanwhile, suspect that Jason is the killer. They turn to a man named Mr. Trent who specializes in interrogation. Trent has never failed to get a criminal to confess. He is especially motivated in this case --- a senator with an interest in Alicia's murder has promised to help his career if he gets a confession.
A good portion of the book takes place in a small, hot, windowless room --- the interrogation room. Cormier describes it in enough detail to make the reader as uncomfortable as Jason is while he is being questioned. The way Trent works is also detailed --- first he does everything he can to gain Jason's trust, then Trent tries to persuade him to confess to killing his young friend. At the same time, Jason struggles to understand both what Trent wants from him and what he remembers about Alicia's last day alive.
Cormier moved smoothly between the two characters' points of view, building suspense and driving the story to its powerful conclusion --- a conclusion with no winners.
Although the book is very nearly flawless, it may be one chapter too long. The final chapter concerns the aftermath of Jason's experience with Trent. It wraps up the book with a shocking surprise, but it also seems a bit unrealistic, taking a believable story and stretching our ability to believe it a little too far. The chapter is unnecessary due to the excellent job Cormier did describing Jason late in the book.
Even with the last chapter, however, THE RAG AND BONE SHOP, like many of Cormier's classics, including THE CHOCOLATE WAR, is a dark and fascinating book. Cormier died in November of 2000 at the age of 75, but THE RAG AND BONE SHOP clearly reveals that he was still at the top of his game, writing in his characteristic uncluttered style and making full and powerful use of his knack for revealing the motivations of his characters in this suspenseful and sad story. Part mystery and part cautionary tale, THE RAG AND BONE SHOP is a fine finale to Cormier's career.
(...)
Rating:
Summary: The Rag and Bone Shop
Review: The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier is about a twelve year old boy, Jason Dorrant, who is enjoying his summer vacation. Then, a seven year old girl, who is Jason's friend's sister, shows up dead in her backyard, and the last person to see her was Jason. The entire town waits impatiently while a big time interrogator figueres out if Jason is the murderer.
This book is a very quick read. It always keeps you going and wanting to read more. But that's about it for its positives qualities. This book feels very unrealistic because a twelve year old boy, in middle school, hangs out with his eight year old sister and a seven year old girl. This does not seem very realistic. The characters are very mature for their ages. The seven-year-old is able to do a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle of a red cardinal. The eight-year-old is already writing her own detectives stories, too. The characters needed to be older in order to fit their personalities. I found this book interesting, yet, unrealistic which is why I give it 3 stars.
Rating:
Summary: An interrogation not just for the truth
Review: The Rag And Bone Shop Is a book about the brutal murder of a seven year old girl named Alicia Bartlett. The boy accused of murdering Alicia, is Jason Dorrant. Jason is twelve and doesn't really fit in at his school. Because he doesn't have friends his own age he is friends with Alicia. Jason knew Alicia through his sister and she only lived down the block.
Jason was the last known person to see Alicia alive, except for her killer, unless Jason was the killer. A man by the name of Trent is hired to interrogate Jason, to bring out the truth. But is that what an interrogation is about? The truth.
I think this book is aimed toward people 12 and over. It will best be understood by the mature reader due to the graphic nature and lack of explanation. I thought the book was mediocre. It sounded like it had the potential to be a really good book, but Robert Cormier has a different writing style. The way he worded certain things was really good, but he didn't have a good grasp on the detail the book really needed. I personally found this book disturbing.
The Rag and Bone Shop is not a book I highly recommend because the author's writhing style does not really fit the plot. It is a violent book and is best suited for the mature reader.
Rating:
Summary: Rag and Bone Shop A must Read
Review: The Rag and the Bone Shop is about a boy named Jason who doesn't have many friends. One of the few friends he does have is a girl named Alicia Bartlett. Alicia is a very bright seven year old. On the first day of summer Jason went over to her house and he helped Alicia on a jigsaw puzzle. After Jason left Alicia's house her murdered body was later found in the woods. The remaining story surrounds around the investigation of Alicia's murder. I enjoyed reading The Rag and the Bone Shop for several reasons. First I enjoyed the dialog between the charters in the novel. Such as when Mr. Trent was interrogating Jason and both were trying to figure out what the other was saying. Another dialog is when the police officer convinces Jason's mother to allow Jason to be taken to the police station. Another thing I enjoyed about the story was Robert Cormier's description of some of the characters. In one scene he describes a boy's acne as something that "seems to come alive, the rawness of the zits emphasized". Another description is when he describes what Alicia Bartlett's body looked like when they found her "the killer could not erase the expression frozen in her eyes-horror and surprise-and had not bothered to close those stricken eyes". I also enjoyed his writing style. It made you keep reading and it was enticing. The Rag and the Bone Shop had a few downsides. What I disliked were some of the words that the author used in the story. Some of the words were difficult. I had to stop reading several times to look up the definition for the word. Another thing I disliked about the novel was the flow of the story. At times it was a bit confusing. At certain parts of the story the author would begin describing memories. It would take several sentences before I realized what was going on. Another example is it took me awhile when reading the story before I made the connection to part1 of the story. I would recommend The Rag and the Bone Shop to young readers between the ages of 10-14. I feel that the book is well written and has a good plot. I feel the reader will enjoy the anticipation of how the story will end. The story keeps the reader thinking. The most enjoyable part is how the story climaxes and comes to a sudden end.
Rating:
Summary: a good summer read
Review: this book caught my attention and i had to read it. and to my delight found it a wonderful mistery story and a story about the corruption of police investagators and the sadness of a very outsider boy. very good story for teens.
Rating:
Summary: How one person can change many lives.
Review: This book talks about how interagators don't always make the right choices for the right reasons. This book makes you think of what could have happened. The what if question. It is a fast read, but if you like to connect to books, this is the book for you.
Rating: 
Summary: The Nastiest book I have ever Readed!
Review: This book was a book about a little boy named Jason and how he has been convicted of killing a 7 year old girl. At the beginning of this book, it had a discusting part were "someone" had gone into a persons house and had been trying to find a gun collection. Finding the collection of only 3 guns the "person" felt the power of holding the weapon. Realizing that it was loaded This "person" had decided that they would take the gun.
After hearing something from up stairs. They had figured that they shpould go see what it was. After noticing that another family was their this "person" decides to kill the each person in the family. First the Father then the mother and feeling sorry for the son, because he had killed his parents and the boy would feel sad to find both of his parents dead. So the "person" decides to kill the boy, The "person" thought of it as doing the boy a favor for killing him.
After all of that excitement the book slows down and the boy has gone through some trouble. The boy has been convicted also for killing a 7 year old girl. Jason the boy could barely live through all of the imbarrisement and having been talked to about every thing. Jason became scared and he thought that his life was not worth living. He was prosecuted very many times. Having no idea how he would handle his life. All the kids at his school would talk about it and he had thought he was singled out from the rest. The book starts to get boring because he is still going through questioning and still scared of what might happen to him. Later at the end by being confused and frightened dearly by a detective the book ends with no shocking conclusion. Not knowing what the boy did after this frightening segment............. After he had felt wonderful and feeling a cool breeze through his hair "He went to the kitchen and took the butcher knife out of the drawer" OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SCARY! Not knowing if hes dead or not what do you think?
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