that room was right, really, and not wrong?
Show them all that you weren’t wrong after all.
But how could I do a thing like that?
He wished his mother would come back. Or Emma. His father couldn’t because he was at work. Hot in the house. But he resisted thinking about the heat. A few days ago, he had opened all the windows in the house, not because it was hot but because he felt like he was suffocating even though some windows were open. He didn’t want to run out of the house, didn’t want to go out in the street, and instead he had run around throwing open all the windows, even in the attic and down in the cellar, even though some of the cellar windows were all dirty and cobwebby. And it wasn’t until later when his mother got home that he realized it was pouring outside and the wind was blowing and all the windows were opened and the rain was coming in.
So he ignored the heat now and wondered about what he should do next. If he was going to show what he could do and really did it this time instead of
saying
he did when he didn’t, he remembered that Bobo Kelton hung around the Rec Center a lot, every day, showing off as usual, laughing and sly, as usual.
Jason looked at the clock. Ten minutes before three. Hot afternoon. He knew that Bobo would be at the Center. All he had to do was go there and wait. Across the street.
A beautiful feeling of sweetness came over him. He lifted his head, let the feeling carry him for a while, like a fresh breeze in his heart.
Then he went into the kitchen and took the butcher knife out of the drawer.
About the Author
Robert Cormier ’s acclaimed novels for young adults have been translated into many languages and have consistently appeared on the Best Books for Young Adults lists of the American Library Association,
The New York Times
and
School Library Journal
. In 1991 he won the Margaret A. Edwards Award, honoring a lifetime contribution to writing for teens, for
The Chocolate War, I Am the Cheese
and
After the First Death
. His most recent novel for Delacorte Press was
Frenchtown Summer,
winner of the
Los Angeles Times
Book Prize for Young Adult Fiction.
Other books by Robert Cormier
After the First Death
Beyond the Chocolate War
The Bumblebee Flies Anyway
The Chocolate War
Eight Plus One
Fade
Frenchtown Summer
Heroes
I Am the Cheese
I Have Words to Spend
In the Middle of the Night
A Little Raw on Monday Mornings
Now and at the Hour
Other Bells for Us to Ring
Take Me Where the Good Times Are
Tenderness
Tunes for Bears to Dance To
We All Fall Down
Published by
Delacorte Press
an imprint of
Random House Children’s Books
a division of Random House, Inc.
1540 Broadway
New York, New York 10036
Copyright © 2001 by Constance S. Cormier, executrix for the estate of Robert Cormier
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.
The trademark Delacorte Press ® is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.
Visit us on the Web! www.randomhouse.com/teens
Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at
www.randomhouse.com/teachers
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cormier, Robert.
The rag and bone shop: a novel / by Robert Cormier.
p. cm.
Summary: Trent, an ace interrogator from Vermont, works to procure a confession from an introverted twelve-year-old accused of murdering his seven-year-old friend in Monument, Massachusetts.
[1. Criminal investigation—Fiction. 2. Detectives—Fiction. 3. Police—
Fiction. 4. Murder—Fiction. 5. Massachusetts—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.C81634 Rag 2001
[Fic]—dc21 2001028540
October
Show them all that you weren’t wrong after all.
But how could I do a thing like that?
He wished his mother would come back. Or Emma. His father couldn’t because he was at work. Hot in the house. But he resisted thinking about the heat. A few days ago, he had opened all the windows in the house, not because it was hot but because he felt like he was suffocating even though some windows were open. He didn’t want to run out of the house, didn’t want to go out in the street, and instead he had run around throwing open all the windows, even in the attic and down in the cellar, even though some of the cellar windows were all dirty and cobwebby. And it wasn’t until later when his mother got home that he realized it was pouring outside and the wind was blowing and all the windows were opened and the rain was coming in.
So he ignored the heat now and wondered about what he should do next. If he was going to show what he could do and really did it this time instead of
saying
he did when he didn’t, he remembered that Bobo Kelton hung around the Rec Center a lot, every day, showing off as usual, laughing and sly, as usual.
Jason looked at the clock. Ten minutes before three. Hot afternoon. He knew that Bobo would be at the Center. All he had to do was go there and wait. Across the street.
A beautiful feeling of sweetness came over him. He lifted his head, let the feeling carry him for a while, like a fresh breeze in his heart.
Then he went into the kitchen and took the butcher knife out of the drawer.
About the Author
Robert Cormier ’s acclaimed novels for young adults have been translated into many languages and have consistently appeared on the Best Books for Young Adults lists of the American Library Association,
The New York Times
and
School Library Journal
. In 1991 he won the Margaret A. Edwards Award, honoring a lifetime contribution to writing for teens, for
The Chocolate War, I Am the Cheese
and
After the First Death
. His most recent novel for Delacorte Press was
Frenchtown Summer,
winner of the
Los Angeles Times
Book Prize for Young Adult Fiction.
Other books by Robert Cormier
After the First Death
Beyond the Chocolate War
The Bumblebee Flies Anyway
The Chocolate War
Eight Plus One
Fade
Frenchtown Summer
Heroes
I Am the Cheese
I Have Words to Spend
In the Middle of the Night
A Little Raw on Monday Mornings
Now and at the Hour
Other Bells for Us to Ring
Take Me Where the Good Times Are
Tenderness
Tunes for Bears to Dance To
We All Fall Down
Published by
Delacorte Press
an imprint of
Random House Children’s Books
a division of Random House, Inc.
1540 Broadway
New York, New York 10036
Copyright © 2001 by Constance S. Cormier, executrix for the estate of Robert Cormier
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.
The trademark Delacorte Press ® is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.
Visit us on the Web! www.randomhouse.com/teens
Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at
www.randomhouse.com/teachers
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cormier, Robert.
The rag and bone shop: a novel / by Robert Cormier.
p. cm.
Summary: Trent, an ace interrogator from Vermont, works to procure a confession from an introverted twelve-year-old accused of murdering his seven-year-old friend in Monument, Massachusetts.
[1. Criminal investigation—Fiction. 2. Detectives—Fiction. 3. Police—
Fiction. 4. Murder—Fiction. 5. Massachusetts—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.C81634 Rag 2001
[Fic]—dc21 2001028540
October
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