The Rag and Bone Shop

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: Excelent Book thats built on reality
Review: The Rag and Bone Shop, by Robert Cormier, is a suspenseful story. A twelve year old boy is the main suspect in a seven year old girl's death. This boy is accused because he has the perfect profile, or traits of a murderer. I enjoyed reading the book from the grand master of teen novels.

In the story 12 year old, Jason Dorrant is the main suspect in Alicia Bartlett's murder. In many ways Jason fit the murder's Profile. He was quiet and his only friend was Alicia and he was the last person to see Alicia alive. People also thought it was weird that she was only seven years old, five years younger than Jason. The mayor became personally involved in the investigation of the girl's murder because his son was good friends with her. The local police did not have any leads so the mayor called in Trent, a self-taught master interrogator, to help solve the crime. In the end, Trent will get a confession, but is it from the right person?

The novel The Rag and Bone Shop was exquisitely written. The strengths are that it is more of a dark book. The whole story line of someone being murdered and a twelve-year-old is being the main suspect. The dark angle is scary because it is a believable story, like something you've seen on the news that can really happen. The characters in the story are pushed to their limits, too far. For example, you'll read that Jason becomes mentally sick over the course of the book. I think his breaking point is actually when Trent got him to confess to killing the seven year old girl Alicia Bartlett. I liked the fact that in the interrogation room you felt sympathy for Jason. The only weakness of the book is that I think Robert Cormier should have end a chapter earlier. Trent was a tortured person he repeats a poem a lot "I must lie down were all the leaders start in the foul rag and bone shop of the heart" he also quotes Lottie "you are what you do".

The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier was another excellent story form the grand master of teen novels.
I would highly recommend this book to teens because it is written for teens. It might upset younger readers. Also the fact it is an easy read and a great story line so it is the best of both worlds.

Rating:
Summary: Chilling
Review: This is one of those teen-age books that is probably much more disturbing for an adult to read than a child. It clearly portrays the ways in which children can be intimidated by adults, something that Jason (the main character) seems to take for granted. He is taken in for questioning as the prime suspect for the murder of a seven year old girl, and most of the book consists of a dialogue between himself and the detective, Trent. Trent's ambition is to always get a confession, and Cormier does an excellent job in describing the detective's feelings and personality. The narration jumps between both Trent and Jason, and I was throughly exhaused and chilled by the time it was over. I found the ending plausible and very disturbing. This was a book that serves as a good reminder of how emotionally dependant children can be and how careful adults should be when speaking to them.

Rating:
Summary: Different Aspects of an Intruguing Book
Review: The book the Rag and Bone Shop, by Robert Cormier is an intriguing, suspenseful book that keeps you guessing until the very end. Twelve year-old Jason Dorrant has trouble fitting in at his school or with kids his age. Being an unpopular child he is striving to find someone to hang out with or be friends with and one of his options is hanging out with 7 year-old Alicia Bartlett, who is a mature child that loves to do jigsaw puzzles with Jason. One summer afternoon after Jason left Alicia's house he finds out that Alicia was brutally murdered about at the time he left. Having no leads, or evidence, the police assume Jason is the only possible suspect and to make things worse Jason has no alibi. So an interrogator is called to jostle a confession out of Jason because this case would never last in court with out evidence and the public was beginning to feel uneasy about a murderer on the loose. Everyone was accusing Jason of being the murderer and it is kind of ironic that Jason was the last person to see Alicia except for the murderer, unless of course Jason is the murderer.
I really enjoyed this well written book. I liked the writing style that Robert Cormier brought out because it was easy but descriptive novel. I also liked how it had just enough character description to keep you interested but you were not overloaded with facts about each individual character. I also enjoyed how Jason was clueless of what was going on throughout most of the book. One of the most intriguing parts of the book for me though was the way the author was able to show the mind of an interrogator so well. Although this book was an interesting, well-written book there were aspects of The Rag and Bone Shop that I did not enjoy. I did not enjoy how the reader never met darling Alicia because then I did not get a great since of her character. I also did not enjoy how there was a very slow long beginning and middle and then it ended all of a sudden with out very much detail as of why it ended the way it did. The ending having to do with Jason did not fit his character either and I think that Cormier could have done better with showing his character differently, maybe even using foreshadowing. Other than these main aspects I would give this book an excellent grade.

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?

Rating:
Summary: Exquistely Demonstrates Weakness of Justice System
Review: The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier can be called one of the most splendid novels written for young adults. The main storyline begins with the strange murder of a 7-year-old girl with a 12-year-old boy as the prime suspect. When an expert interrogator with what seems to be a mental illness is called in to "extract a confession," the girl's parents and friends will find out if he's guilty or not. Therefore, justice will be served. Or will it? When the mayor himself becomes personally involved, a recipe for disaster is created.

The story begins when a 7-year-old girl is mysteriously found murdered in the woods. The girl would be identified as Alicia Bartlett. 12-year-old Jason Dorrant is the prime suspect. He is taken in for questioning by an expert interrogator named Trent, who has a troubling personal life and seems paranoid. Trent was seen at the very beginning when he was interrogating somebody. When Trent discovers that Jason is innocent, he knows his right choice is to tell the authorities that they have the wrong man. But will his greed and pressure push him to extract a confession, no matter what?

The title of the novel, The Rag and Bone Shop, comes from an interesting poem; written by Yeats; which Trent recalls throughout the story: "I must lie down where all the ladders start; in the foul rag-and-bone shop of the heart." Trent, with a troubling personal life, gives us a look at some of the darker corners of society. He always gets a confession no matter what, which monumentally demonstrates the weakness of the justice system and the destruction of our lives bad interrogations cause. Also, there are absolutely no miracles. Pure luck will save, like it would in 99% of most novels, neither Trent nor Jason. While this may be harsh, it is what really happens 99% of the time. Cormier doesn't invent a fanciful tale, nor does he make up an unrealistically ridiculous story. This book descriptively and truly sums up the parts and flaws of our justice system.

Undoubtedly, this is one of our best novels. It gives us a look at the justice system and how terrible it is. It is dark, mysterious, and would only be recommended to those who are 11 or older. However, since this book is fun to read, has a good plot, and is built on reality, it is impossible not to say that Robert Cormier must truthfully have been one of our best authors.

Rating:
Summary: READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!
Review: If you like mystery then this book is for you. This Book is by far one of the best books that I have read in a while. I would suggest that you read this book and tell other people about it. Here is the basic laydown of the book: There is this kid named Jason who lives across the street from this girl named Alicia who gets murdered just minutes after Jason had left her house, now the police think that he could be a possible suspect on the killings of this girl. Does Jason end up guilty or does it remain a mystery? You will have to read the book and find out(don't want to spoil the end for you)!!!!!!!

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: 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 REVIEW FOR THE RAG AND BONE SHOP
Review: The Rag and Bone Shop was an interesting, gripping novel. I read it in two days and could not put it down for a second. It starts out in the small town of Monument where a boy named Jason Dorrant lives. It is the summer holidays and one of Jason's only friends has just been mudered. He had been to her house the day of the crime and has been suspected of being the criminal. A famous interrogator named Mr. Trent comes to interrogate Jason. Jason is taken in to a cramped office where Trent interrogates him for over four hours, trying to get a confession.
I liked many aspects of this book. It was interesting and had a great story line. I loved how the reader didn't know who did it until the very end. That brings me to my least favorite part, the ending. It started out well until the last sentences. I was truely disturbed by the last paragraph. There were some parts of the interrogation scene that were unappealing. One of these was Trent's methods of interrogation. He was too forceful in some places.
This book was amazing and I truely enjoyed it. Apart from the bad things I mentioned above, it was a great book. I would recommend it to all readers over the age of eleven. I say this because some context might upset younger readers.