"Huckleberry Finn transposed to Upstate New York in the 1990s" -People

 

Russell Banks’ novel, Rule Of The Bone, follows Chappie, a 14-year-old juvenile delinquent, on the road to self-discovery.

Rule Of The Bone starts off with Chappie looking around his home in AuSable Forks, New York, for possessions of his parents to sell for drug money. He finds a suitcase filled with baggies of old coins, and every so often, he brings one to the local pawn shop. Eventually, his mother and stepfather, Ken, catch on to what Chappie is doing and kick him out of the house. From there, his living situations run the gamut and he gains a ton of life experience.

Initially, after being thrown out of his house, Chappie moves into an apartment above a video store with his friend Russ and a bunch of shady bikers. He gets by dealing drugs at the mall, but after a fire and an eviction, Chappie must once again uproot himself and find a new place to go.

After the fire, Chappie clings to Russ and follows his lead. They break into a rich couple’s summer home and live there together for a while. Ultimately, Russ stabs Chappie in the back and takes off. Chappie’s next stop is an abandoned Greyhound bus, where he finds odd roommates and friendships in a laid-back perpetually stoned Rastafarian, I-Man, and an eight-year-old orphan, Rose a.k.a Froggy.

Upon arriving at the bus, the realization hits Chappie that his life is his responsibility and nobody is taking care of him anymore. He went from being dependent on his parents to dependent on Russ to being completely independent. The tables turned and Chappie goes from being follower to leader, as he becomes the big brother and sole protector of Froggy. While an adult, I-Man is just not the guardian type.

Banks delves deep into Chappie’s mind and really outlines his path from a confused kid to a solid person. On page one, Chappie was definitely a boy, while he was much closer to being a man on page 390.

Rule Of The Bone is a breezyand interesting coming of age story, described by People magazine as “the Great American Novel…Huckleberry Finn transposed to Upstate New York in the 1990s.” I found this book to be very enjoyable and would highly recommend it to anyone.

Other titles from Russell Banks, an AuSable Forks resident himself, include Family Life, The Book of Jamaica, Continental Drift, and The Sweet Hereafter.

Got some North Country teenage angst? Angst away to us!

The Rule Of The Bone Written by Russell Banks Published by Harper Collins Publishers Date: March 1996   Rating Rating Key You'll be reading this book over and over again. You won't be able to put this book down til you reach the end. You'd be better off reading the writing in bathroom stalls. At least you can use it for kitty litter after you finish with it.