Reviews: (by author)

Cormier, Robert. Frenchtown Summer. Delacorte, New York, 1999. 113 pages. $16.95 hardcover. ISBN 1385327048.

A beautiful verse novel. This book has relatively little plot, but is a wonderful character study and description of a working-class neighborhood, apparently during the Depression. What plot there is concerns the solving of a decades-old murder, an airplane, and the relationship of a little boy and his rather distant father. The book evokes the emotional life of its characters with a few powerful strokes: the woman who nearly jumps off a balcony while doing laundry, the man whose prayers to keep his son out of World War I were answered when the son was permanently injured in an accident, the beautiful nun who teaches piano, the Irish mother with the silver laughter, the father who says "work is sacred."

Each centers on a different character or event and is relatively brief, leaving no more than a sense of the moment hanging like smoke in the air. And leaving the reader wanting more. A wonderful introduction to the power of poetry for readers who are a little too old for some of the poetry written for younger children.

Recommended reading level: Age 11 and up

Reviewed by Jamie Madden

Cormier, Robert. The Rag and Bone Shop, New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf, 2001,     $5.99. ISBN 0-440-22971-5. Young adult and up, fiction.

Seven-year-old Alicia Bartlett is found dead --murdered-- in the woods near her home and Jason Dorrant, a withdrawn, twelve-year-old is the last one to see her alive. The town of Monument, Massachusetts is an upheaval. Even a well-known Senator has become personally involved in the case due to the fact that his grandson was a classmate of Alicia. There is a public outcry for an arrest and Jason is pinpointed for the murder. However, there is no physical evidence linking him to the crime. An expert interrogator is called in to pull a confession out of Jason. That is his job, simply to pull a confession. However, the investigation and interrogation stir up more truth than either of them could ever dream in the end.

I could hardly put The Rag and Bone Shop down! Cormier does a brilliant job in creating a superb psychological/murder mystery novel for the young adult. I don't hesitate in calling it a psychological novel because Cormier guides us inside into the heart of man in an almost Dostoyevske-esque approach. By this I mean that we are able to read the thoughts and intents of the main characters and follow their stream of consciousness as shocking and frightening as it may be. The author also gives us insight into how the line between what is good and evil can be blurred quite easily and the truth lost somewhere in between. There are a lot of twists and turns in this novel leaving even the most sensible reader a bit dazed. The only other comment I would make is that the events in The Rag and Bone Shop are a bit reminiscent of current events, such as the crimes committed at Columbine and Santana High School, and so it may not be the type of novel suited for everyone. However, I still contend that this is a fantastic read for the young adult and up.

Reviewed by Rhonda Brown, February 2004

Back to Reviews A-C