Topic 2: The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier

Cormier, Robert. 2001. The Rag and Bone Shop. New York: Delacorte Press. ISBN: 0385729262.

Robert Cormier’s last book, published post-humously, THE RAG AND BONE SHOP explores the fine line between truth and lie. When a seven-year-old girl is murdered and the only suspect the police have in custody will not confess, the police bring in a special interrogator. The interrogator is a man with a reputation of getting the confession out the most difficult suspects. The conversation that ensues between Trent, the interrogator and Jason, the twelve-year-old suspect is ominous and disturbing because the reader is almost certain that the boy is innocent, but not quite totally convinced. The jaded interrogator manages finally to get his confession but a horrible revelation at the end of the interrogation completely upturns his world. The end of the story is perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the story. At the conclusion of the story, the young boy questions not only his integrity, but whether simply thinking he could have done that means that he could now.

Cormier was a master story spinner and this story is no different. The writing is tight and concise and draws the reader in with imagery and sound. “The interview between Trent and Jason evolves into a taut, sinister mind game as the interrogation expert twists the boy's thoughts and manipulates his words.” (Roback, .) Cormier’s dialogue between the interrogator and the suspect is bare bones and compelling. The reader is pushed along, willing Jason to resist Trent and to ask for his parents or a lawyer. Soon the reader is as caught up in the interrogation as the boy, questioning themselves and reality. The final scene is the most terrible and heartbreaking scene of the story. “The cat-and-mouse game between experience and innocence is far more compellingly played out in I Am the Cheese and After the First Death.” (Sutton, 743.) Cormier has a knack of writing about choices that people, both young and old, had to make, and then exploring the results of those decisions. His work often makes the reader question how they would react to a similar situation.

Reference List:

Roback, Dianne, Jennifer M.Brown, Jason Britton, and Jeff Zaleski. 2001. Review of The Rag and Bone Shop, by Robert Cormier. Publisher’s Weekly vol. 248, issue 42 (15 October).


Sutton, Roger. 2001. Review of The Rag and Bone Shop, by Robert Cormier. Horn Book Magazine vol. 77, issue 6 (Nov/Dec): 743.