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The Rag and Bone Shop

3.69 of 5 stars 3.69 · rating details · 1,498 ratings · 203 reviews

Twelve-year old Jason is accused of the brutal murder of a young girl. Is he innocent or guilty? The shocked town calls on an interrogator with a stellar reputation: he always gets a confession. The confrontation between Jason and his interrogator forms the chilling climax of this terrifying look at what can happen when the pursuit of justice becomes a personal crusade for...more

Hardcover, 160 pages

Published October 9th 2001 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

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Mar 31, 2012 Kessia Robinson rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In this horrifying novel, 12-year-old Jason is suspected of murdering nine-year-old Allison. The police force, under pressure, decide they're pretty convinced Jason is the culprit and so being in Trent, an interrogator known for always getting a confession out of the supposed perpetrator. The novel explores guilt--its cause, its contagiousness, and its cure--and what happens when a young boy is psychologically manipulated into confessing a crime he didn't commit. This book is haunting. After rea...more

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Apr 11, 2008 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: young adults (especially boys)

Shelves: young-adult, fiction, books-for-boys

The Rag and Bone Shop is an exciting, suspense-filled read that sucks you in and keeps you reading page after page in anticipation of finding out what happens.

The premise for the story is that a 12-year-old boy named Jason is the last person to see his 7-year-old friend alive. Her brutally murdered body is recovered and the police suspect him. They bring in an "expert" interrogator to get him to confess and much of the book focuses on the interaction of the interrogator and Jason in the small,...more

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Jan 03, 2012 Aidanbeheisel rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: class-books

Robert Edmund Cormier (January 17, 1925–November 2, 2000) was an American author known for his deeply pessimistic, downbeat literature. His most popular books include I Am the Cheese, After the First Death. The Chocolate War was challenged in multiple libraries. His books often are concerned with themes such as abuse, mental illness, violence, revenge, betrayal and conspiracy. In most of his novels, the protagonists do not win. He is a bloody and not that good of a writer.

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Feb 06, 2013 Debbie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, fiction

This is a horror story based on inaccuracies and more suited for adults than tweens. I might have found some value to it if it had portrayed a realistic scenario, but instead it instills a fear in kids that could cause more harm than good. I was a thoughtful person back when I was a 5th grader, but I wouldn't have looked past that "lesson" to the underlying things that some adult reviewers were pointing out as good to ponder.

A teenaged friend of mine saw this book--marked as for 5th graders--tho...more

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Nov 13, 2012 Jalise Kerkenbush rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Robert Cormier has written one of the best books by far. This book is a page turner and it will keep you in suspense. It will leave you an impression. Cormier describes this book as a mystery and so much detail that you would have to keep reading. It grabs your attention and to think about it closely.
Jason is a 12 year old boy. He is a pretty shy child. When the seven year old girl who lives next door is murdered, Jason is terrified. He was the last one to see her alive. When the police come, h...more

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Dec 08, 2010 Saundra rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier Bleak/Murder/Interrogation
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
I gave this a low rating not because of the writing, but because of personal preference. This novel is typically bleak, with a general lack of optimism throughout. At the beginning of the novel, a young girl is murdered and the only suspect is a young boy who is her neighbor, and the last person to see her alive.The police bring in a hotshot interrogator to get a confession from the boy, as there is very littl...more

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Dec 06, 2010 Catherine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 04, 2010 Joel Richardson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier Bleak, interrogation, friendship,
guilt, identity

Cormier uses William Butler Yeats' last lines of "The Circus Animal's Desertion" to title his bleak, young-adult novel about a boy who is examined down to the deepest part of his heart by a professional interrogator only to find innocence. This innocence turns to guilt when Mr. Trent, for greed, political, and power purposes, plants that guilt into the fragile, "coming-of-age" heart of Jason. While Jason is...more

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Jun 14, 2010 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: english-420

This book is hard for me to rate. It was certainly a very compelling book, and the content was deep--but it was also dark.

In this book, a seven-year-old girl is murdered, and desperate to give the public a suspect, the police accuse Jason, the twelve-year-old boy who was the last person to see Alicia, despite a lack of evidence.

However, the police do not tell Jason that they think he is the murderer. Instead, they ask him to come and answer questions, telling him that he might be able to help...more

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Jun 04, 2010 Talese rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: engl-420

A seven year old girl named Alicia has gone missing in Jason’s neighborhood. On a second search throughout the town, the police find her murdered body in between two large trees. Jason is immediately considered the prime suspect because he was the last person to see Alicia before she was murdered. The police, the senator and the citizens of the town want answers. The police call in an expert interrogator named Trent who is known for getting confessions from suspects. Jason is called into the pol...more

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Sep 29, 2009 Elyse Bradley rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: english-420

Genre: Bleak/Adolescence/Murder/Psychological

In this short and gritty novel, Robert Cormier effectively delves into the politics of police interrogation and offers a rather startling conclusion. Twelve-year old Jason Dorrant becomes the police department's number one suspect in the murder of seven year old Alicia Bartlett. Jason, unaware of suspicion and obviously innocent, is taken in for questioning by a master interrogator named Trent. After manipulating Jason through a series of psychologica...more

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Jan 05, 2010 Josiah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh my, oh my, oh my. I don't feel that I am exaggerating one bit when I say that this book stands apart from anything else that has ever seen publication. I know that's an outrageous claim, but it is absolutely true.

Hours after reading it, the panicky, weighty feeling of this book courses through my veins and shadows my every thought. From the earliest stages of the plot, dark, frightening storm clouds loom close by and it becomes increasingly obvious that we are headed for a devastating uphea...more Oh my, oh my, oh my. I don't feel that I am exaggerating one bit when I say that this book stands apart from anything else that has ever seen publication. I know that's an outrageous claim, but it is absolutely true.

Hours after reading it, the panicky, weighty feeling of this book courses through my veins and shadows my every thought. From the earliest stages of the plot, dark, frightening storm clouds loom close by and it becomes increasingly obvious that we are headed for a devastating upheaval that will be difficult to handle. I just didn't anticipate how intolerable it would get.

As the special interrogator Trent commences working his skills on young Jason—the twelve-year-old secretly suspected murderer of a precocious seven-year-old girl—the writing is so tensely vivid that it is not hyperbolic in the least to say that it actually felt as if I were being interrogated with Jason, my own life on the line depending on the next several hours. Worse yet, Jason doesn't know that the police suspect him of the murderous act of which he has been accused behind closed doors, and the expert Trent weaves his way through the spare facts of the case like a deadly spider, slowly, excruciatingly tying Jason up in his web as the light of freedom and life imperceptibly begins to depart.

It's hard to convey the severe, raw intensity of how this situation moves forward, or to describe the unrivaled genius of author Robert Cormier that makes it all so profoundly, hauntingly affecting, but my whole body was shaking as the unbearable climax of the narrative closed in, as the heat elevated (physically and metaphorically) and the scene became more disturbing. I was shaking so hard that I could scarcely turn the pages, and sweat poured down my brow and my stomach churned and I felt as if I were in danger, as if this story had become mine and each line that I read would reveal my own fate. As the climax drew near and everything for Jason and Trent came down to a final moment of pure torturous agony, I sobbed and sobbed and could no longer even see the pages through the tears that would not stop coming. More than an hour later, chills still ran throughout my body. No book has ever affected me this way before. Not even close.

I have never known of a writer with the pure, awesome, dreadful power that is possessed by Robert Cormier. The Rag and Bone Shop is not only a no-brainer five star book for me, but is clearly one of the greatest and most potent books that I have experienced in my entire life. I really did not know that writing could be this stunningly powerful, and even that is an understatement. In my opinion every person alive should read this book. It is an absolute, unequivocal life-changer in the truest sense of the word. I'm still in shock... (less)

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Jan 04, 2009 Ross Staadecker rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For a book geared to teen readers, this would not be appropriate for those in a lower-learning district. For example, a demographically poor community, where students have a hard time understanding basic concepts. For students who are capable of reading at the level the book was written for, the story is extremely prolonged and predictable. Some may argue that the end is surprising, but if following the context appropriately, it is nothing but a bore or a read.

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Apr 24, 2012 Kate rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, age-ya, audiobooks

Jason Dorrant is a 12-year-old boy who isn't quite like his classmates. He enjoys spending time with the 7-year-old sister of one of his classmates, Alicia Bartlett, until the day Alicia is found murdered. Jason was the last person to see him alive.

Trent, an expert interrogator skilled in extracting confessions, is called in. As Trent questions Jason, he begins to believe that Jason is innocent... but Trent, having been asked by the senator to hurry this along and get a confession, sees chinks i...more

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Oct 27, 2012 Georgia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was the best book ive read this year. I liked it because it was a page turner. It didnt take long for the exciting stuff to start happening. a 12 year old boy was accused of murdering a 7 year old girl but the author gives hints that he didnt do it. The interrogator makes us start to think that maybe he did. This book was creepy at the end because of the way the author described jason going crazy.
"Jason looked at the clock. Ten minutes before three. Hot afternoon. He knew that Bobo would b...more

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Dec 09, 2009 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: english-420-elective

I’m trying very hard not to like this book. I know that sounds prejudiced, but at least I’m honest. In fact, I decided after being introduced to Robert Cormier’s style that I would not like this book. I have always been a fan of happy endings.
(Let me clarify: by happy endings, I don’t mean “And they lived happily ever after.” I mean emotional resolution and satisfaction. The world may be crumbling around the characters’ heads—sometimes literally, since I read too much fantasy—but the character...more I’m trying very hard not to like this book. I know that sounds prejudiced, but at least I’m honest. In fact, I decided after being introduced to Robert Cormier’s style that I would not like this book. I have always been a fan of happy endings.
(Let me clarify: by happy endings, I don’t mean “And they lived happily ever after.” I mean emotional resolution and satisfaction. The world may be crumbling around the characters’ heads—sometimes literally, since I read too much fantasy—but the characters still manage to hope for something. Despite the odds, they’ve managed to overcome the conflict or bring the antagonist to justice. That ability to endure, that determination, has always resonated with me as a reader.)
But for not having a happy ending, Rag and Bone Shop was an awesome book.
I’ve mentioned in previous papers that I hate books that force me to feel a certain way. I worried in the beginning that Rag and Bone Shop would be one of those books: Cormier does a wonderful job of making Jason a sympathetic character, and I feared that the novel would quickly become a feel-bad-for-me, the-adults-are-picking-on-me story.
However, it was the presence of that sympathy that made the book work for me; yes, I worried about Jason, but not because I felt obligated to. Instead, I spent most of the book fuming about the injustice. I didn’t pay much attention to Jason compared to the time I spent thinking about the police lieutenant. I knew Jason wasn’t the killer. I knew practically from the beginning that the brother was the killer. And yet, in the name of money and his reputation, some cop decides to humiliate Jason. It was wrong, but I seemed to be the only person to notice that.
Having said that, I will admit that I loved the ending(s) of the book. I finished the last chapter and thought, “Wow. Cormier has acknowledged my frustration and pointed out the true conflict of the story. I can sleep peacefully now.” I loved Trent’s guilt, and though it sickened me that the police acted like nothing had happened, I loved how that injustice got me thinking about politics in the real world.
And then Cormier dropped a bombshell in the epilogue. As much as I enjoyed the rest of the book, this is what I wanted to see. Congrats, cops, you drove this poor kid insane. Now everyone will know that you forced an innocent to confess because you wanted to advance your own motives.
Yes, it’s a gruesome ending. Yes, there is no hope at the end of the book. But if a happy ending is solely based on the villain getting what’s coming to them, I would argue that Rag and Bone Shop has a happy ending.
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Nov 08, 2012 Miss T rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: eng-420

Plot Summary

Jason is a young boy who liked Alicia. Alicia was murdered, and the police suspect that Jason was responsible because he was the last person known to be seen with her. Trent, an interrogator who has been successful in getting suspects to confess, tries to get Jason to confess. Jason was called in for questioning,so the remainder of the book focuses on Trent trying to get that confession. Jason tells him that he did not commit the crime, but Trent uses many of his tactics to extract a...more

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Dec 09, 2010 Courtney rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: eng-420

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 28, 2012 Jacob rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bleak. The story was engaging. The characterization was no top notch, and there were several rather cliche scenes, but these faults were mostly forgivable and did not detract from the overall narrative. The ending has a sort of feeling of insecure insanity, much like a poor Lovecraft story, in which there's some challenge to the believability, although most of that challenge I think was leftover from the unbelievability of the plot. That said, it kept my interest for its appropriately short leng...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Laura Masterson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: eng-420

ROBERT CORMIER BOOK
I really, really enjoyed this book. It was so masterfully crafted. It follows a man, Trent, who is famous for being able to make anyone confess to a crime. A murder for a little girl named Alicia comes up, and becomes a story of interest for the town. Protagonist Jason was the last to see her, but it is clear that he didn't kill her. Nevertheless he is the main suspect for the crime, and Trent is called in to interrogate him to make him confess. There is no evidence, but a pol...more

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May 31, 2010 Damian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 8th-grade-ir

The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier. The main characters are Jason Durant, a 12 year old boy and a man named Trent who is an interrogator for the police. The story takes place in Monument, Mass. He was looking forward to the summer vacation when suddenly the town was hit with the murder of Alicia Bartlett, a seven year old girl. She was Jason's friend. There was no weapon, clues, or fingerprints. The only thing the police knew was that Jason was the last person to see her alive. Lt. Braxton...more The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier. The main characters are Jason Durant, a 12 year old boy and a man named Trent who is an interrogator for the police. The story takes place in Monument, Mass. He was looking forward to the summer vacation when suddenly the town was hit with the murder of Alicia Bartlett, a seven year old girl. She was Jason's friend. There was no weapon, clues, or fingerprints. The only thing the police knew was that Jason was the last person to see her alive. Lt. Braxton from the police department came to his house to question him, but he really didn't have any information to give him.The police decided to call in a special interrogator named Trent to question Jason. He had a reputation for always getting a confession. The town was demanding an arrest and the police decided that Jason was the only suspect. They hoped that Trent could get a confession so that the pressure would be off the police. When Jason was taken to the police department, he went without his mother. Four other boys were also bought to the station and they thought it was neat because they were part of the investigation. A woman named Sarah Downey from the District Attorney's office rode with Trent so that she could give him background information on the case. Trent asked her if she thought Jason was guilty and she said no. She felt the police was giving into town pressure. The interrogation room was small and hot which is the way Trent wanted it. He did not want Jason to be comfortable. Trent put Jason at ease, analyzed him and his body language and never used the word murder. Trent started asking questions and Jason asked him why he was asking certain questions. He got nervous and wanted to leave. He asked Trent for something to drink, and while he was gone, Jason left. Trent found him in the parking lot and told him that if he left, he would look guilty. Jason went back and the questions started again. Trent asked why he was friends with a 7 year old and he was 12. He wanted him to talk about anything that was bothering him. Did he have any anger or regrets? Did he go to her school during recess? Did he like her and want to touch or kiss her? Jason's reaction to these questions led him to believe he was innocent. He felt sorry for Jason and wanted to end the interrogation. Jason wondered if he should tell that Alicia's brother, Brad, seemed to be angry with her that day. He didn't because he was always teasing her. They started talking about where the body was found. He asked Jason had he ever been there and Jason said yea. He then wanted to know if he thought the death was planned or just something that happened on the spur of the moment. He kept questioning Jason like this. Jason kept denying any part in the murder. Trent began to doubt himself. He wondered whether he had met someone who outwitted him and deceived him. I would rate this book a 3. The internal conflict Trent had was that he began to feel that Jason was innocent, but he had a reputation of getting confessions and he was determined to try to get one. But, he kept having doubts because he felt Jason was innocent and wanted to send him home. He also felt he had to do his job so he continued the questioning. The text-to-world connection is that things like this also happen today. Sometimes a person is questioned so much and in such a way that they finally confess. One of the problems here was that Jason was a minor and he did not have a lawyer present during questioning.

they started talking (less)

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Aug 30, 2011 Rose rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this in an hour & a half, not only because it's a small book but because I couldn't put it down. I'd never read any Cormier books before though I'd heard of his work. I will be reading more now though. It was a fast paced book, an easy read, yet he put so much into such few pages. The main character seems a bit younger than 13 but that's probably because he's a bit different than other kids. Even though I knew who the killer in this story is from the beginning, the suspense of what wo...more

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Apr 17, 2012 Deborah Westwood rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: engl-420

REQUIRED CATEGORY

Jason is a tender teenager who struggles to get along with kids his age. He does get along with younger kids. But when a seven-year-old is found murdered, his innocent friendship is called into question. A professional confessor, Trent, is called in to pull a "confession" out of Jason. Jason is tricked into giving his support and is slowly manipulated into believing himself capable of such an act. Cormier descends to the rag and bones to expose the worst of humanity that the ris...more

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Nov 04, 2010 Michele Velthuizen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Interest level: 7th +
Reading level: medium
Genre: murder, mystery, trial by fire

Author Robert Cormier has written some really good books ("The Chocolate War", "I am the Cheese", "After the First Death"), but this is one of my favorites. Once you pick it up you won't be able to put it down, so don't start reading it late on a school night! It's also a bit disturbing and you may not be able to fall asleep right after you finish reading it, so be warned.

This book is about Jason, a 12-year old boy, w...more

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Dec 30, 2009 April rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Rag and Bone Shop
Robert Cormier
Laurel-Leaf
2001

I wasn't sure what to expect by the description on the back of the book. Was it going to be a mystery? A look into the mind of a murderer? All I knew was that I was bound to find it interesting, like I have all of Cormier's novels that I have read.

I wasn't disappointed. Instead of a "Who-done it", this is an intense look at the interrogation process when procuring a confession is the only acceptable outcome, whether or not the suspect is innocent...more

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Jul 16, 2010 Stevecrandell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Middle schoolers are at the center of this novel, but once again Cormier has written a story with a very mature shock value.

There’s a gruesome murder at the start, and that’s probably a good thing. If you can get through Part I without feeling too disturbed, you should be able to make it through the rest.

Murder #1 sets the scene for Murder #2, and the investigation that follows. The bulk of the plot focuses on psychodrama – 12-year-old Jason Dorrant is a likely suspect. Expert investigator Tre...more

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Jul 03, 2010 Rachel Fessenbecker rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found this to be one of the most unique mystery novels I’ve read yet. Cormier did an excellent job with this young adult detective story. The whole plot is based around the interrogation of a murder suspect: 12 year old Jason (who is the last person to see the 7 year old girl who was murdered). What makes this book so powerful is we know that Jason is innocent the entire time. So where’s the mystery you’re wondering? Well it revolves around the twists and turns that go on between the interroga...more

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Jul 24, 2011 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think this book is a great display of what my creative writing teaching called a ""lust for closure."" I think the book would have been oodles better if, literally, the last sentence had simply been deleted. That being said, Robert Cormier was one of my favorite writers in high school, and despite now being 29 years old, he didn't fail me with this one, my most recent read. It was bleak, as many Cormier books are, but also I imagined, sadly realistic. The dialogue between the interrogator and...more

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Jun 28, 2010 Michael Wing rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was read in an hour, and as someone mentioned, the ending is a surprise, a shock. I had forgotten how sinister Cormier is, disturbing. The omniscient voice of the young protagonist Jason is as innocent as any 12-year-old can be, even when his favorite playmate is 7. She is a murder victim, Jason saw her last, and the police focus on him. The interrogation is gripping, the outcome from left field. Pow. My commentary is a mix. Cormier develops plot quickly and directly. Young readers will app...more

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Jun 11, 2010 Justin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: english-420

This is a creepy mystery that kept me at the edge of my seat while reading. The plot is very simple. A young boy named Jason is the last person to see young Alicia Bartlett alive, therefore, he is accused of murdering her. The detectives bring in an expert interrogator who is known for getting confessions to do just that with Jason. Nearly 75 percent of the book is the interrogation. The result of the interrogation is very surprising and the end of the novel is more so. I think this book is suit...more

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About Robert Cormier

Robert Edmund Cormier (January 17, 1925–November 2, 2000) was an American author, columnist and reporter, known for his deeply pessimistic, downbeat literature. His most popular works include I Am the Cheese, After the First Death, We All Fall Down and The Chocolate War, all of which have won awards. The Chocolate War was challenged in multiple libraries. His books often are concerned with themes...more

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