Rule Of the Bone

Rule Of The Bone, written by Russell Banks, is a story told by a short fourteen year old boy named Chappie, who endured a lot of pain and suffering. His father abandoned his family when Chappie was five. When his mother remarried, he suffered from his stepfather's abuse. Both his mother and stepfather were alcoholics and completely ignored him. To gain attention, Chappie got a Mohawk haircut, pierced his ears, and sported a nose ring. …

…to be a white guy who likes gangsta rap and manages a band and calls them niggers who turns out to be a doper on speed or coke or maybe crack and turns out to be taking care of a poor little homeless girl, and so on in a vicious circle like that." (Page 138) Because Chappie gives such great detail, it was very easy for me to comprehend what was going on in the story.