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Oct 31, 2007

Mary rated it:

This is one of my favorite books. I never read it as a kid, but I've read it several times now as an adult and it's still so beautiful. The writing is stark and concise, and so is the story, which is one of the most difficult plots to describe. This is one of those where you talk about the theme more than the actual story: "It's the best book about good and evil that exists," you tell someone, after trying to outline a chocolate sale at a religious boy's school that ends in a sadistic More...

2 comments like (15 people liked it)

Jan 22, 2009

Apryl rated it:

This book is one of the most censored books in the country for young adults. I read it for my censorship lesson for my lit class and I was honestly frightened of what I would find but it was easily one of the most haunting and well-written books I have ever read. Cormier is a genius of writing with layers. It's a deceptively easy read; easy in that I finished it in 2 days, deceptive in that I could read it again and come away reading something different.

Brother Leon is truly evil. H More...

1 comment like (13 people liked it)

Nov 13, 2008

Ashley rated it:

I know this is considered important juv. lit. and amazing, but I disliked it very much. I can recognize that the whole point was to make you hate the fact that there is evil in the world and even you can become desensitized or mentally manipulated (the author is manipulating the reader, overall, and wants the reader to finally recognize it and question it at the end). However, this book portrays women as nothing but sex-objects (only briefly bringing women or girls into the picture for this purp More...

32 comments like (12 people liked it)

Mar 12, 2009

Ms. Liebman rated it:

Reading this for/with the 8th grade. Mrs. LeVasseur had a pile of them and she highly recommended it. "Sure!" I says.

SO now I'm well more than half way and fascinated. I keep thinking that it's some big analogy for government and democracies or maybe the school is Russia and it's about communism. I'll have to check when it was written.

And now that I'm finished with it...let me continue my review:

I'm really surprised by the complexity of the characte More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Oct 20, 2011

Darlyn rated it:

MY BLOG: Your Move, Dickens

I absolutely loved this book, which isn’t surprising since it reminded me of John Green’s novels. John Green is ONE OF MY FAVORITE WRITERS. Now, Cormier and Green are two completely different writers, but Cormier’s use of the T.S. Eliot line ‘Do I dare disturb the universe?’ reminded me of John Green’s use of literary references in his novels. Cormier only used a single line from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, but what a perfect line it is. It summed More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Sep 18, 2011

Adam rated it:

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier is in my top five favorite novels of all time and is definitely the best book I have read this year so far. The book shows us the cruelty of people and the amazing power of intimidation both by students and by teachers. The story concerns a Catholic school for boys which embarks on a massive chocolate sale mainly controlled by Brother Leon, who uses what he calls school spirit to try and get the students to sell all 20,000 boxes. Jerry, our young protagonist, More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 17, 2009

Heather rated it:

Here's the deal people, yesterday I was heating up my lunch in the kitchenette at work and had this book with me (because I was planning to read during lunch) and another woman asks me what the book is about. I tell her it's the story of this kid who refuses to sell chocolates at his high school, and then I realize that this sounds like the stupidest book in the world--why would anyone care about reading about fund-raising? I'll tell you why ladies and gentleman--because this book isn't about a More...

1 comment like (14 people liked it)

Jun 14, 2008

. r a c h a b e t h . rated it:

Oh god. You know? I honestly wish I could remember cool things from high school English, but whenever my roommate and I embark down memory lane, all I whine about is this book. What can I say about "The Chocolate War?" (Spoilers ahead, folks!)

It stinks. No seriously. Jerry's musings about "disturbing the universe" (poor T.S. Eliot) put me to sleep and I honestly couldn't wait for the school's secret society to knock the ever lovin' crap out of him. I may also be m More...

4 comments like (4 people liked it)

Apr 24, 2008

Nova rated it:

The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier, takes place in a Catholic prep school for boys. The main character is Jerry Renault, a freshman who is dealing with the recent death of his mother. Not only has Jerry’s mother died, but his father has become very depressed and is unable to help Jerry through this difficult time. When school starts Jerry puts everything he has into making it on the football team, and things seem to be going well until the lead member of the school’s secret society, The Vig More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Feb 17, 2009

Sarah rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 06, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 19, 2011

Carla rated it:

The bleak viciousness that is this novel made me really really anxious and depressed. I couldn’t wait until it was over. I skimmed the whole final chapter and I've been doing my breathing exercises for the past couple of hours to rid myself of the bad chemicals that are pumping through my body.

Ultimately this book is about:

How evil pervades

How pacifism is ultimately a violent act

Martyrdom gets you nowhere

How vicious children really are

Writing a vicious book about viciousness that assaults the re More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 08, 2010

David rated it:

The Chocolate War
By Robert Cormier

David Kwon

Plot Summery :

Jerry the protagonist is fighting the antagonist Archie, the leader of Vigils which is a secret student run society group. Archie may reflect only himself or he may represent the Vigils and Brother Leon. When the Assistant Headmaster Leon plans to raise money by selling chocolates, he and Archie form a kind of a partnership. Brothe More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jun 21, 2008

Rob rated it:

My friend Vicki sent me a list of the American Library Association’s list of most challenged books of the last ten years. The Chocolate War was on that list, so I figured, what the hell! I’ve never read any young adult literature. This might be a good place to start! Let’s see what all the hoopla is about!

I can see why this novel has been challenged in the past. There are several references, and other clear statements, about what high school boys do with themselves when they’re all a More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Aug 25, 2010

Mari rated it:

you read the blurb and ask yourself: it's a story about a school drive to sell chocolates?!

trust me, it's so much more than that. yes, it's fundamentally a story between good and evil but then you reach a certain point where you can no longer distinguish the good guys from the bad guys. you start to question the characters' motivations for doing what they do - why archie orchestrates twisted plans against everyone-the school administration, the popular kids, the bullies, even against More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 20, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

Reviewed by Taylor Rector for TeensReadToo.com

This is a horrifying story about a boy's school where there is literally a chocolate war.

A secret society of boys, which the administration has always turned their back on, takes over a school chocolate sale. The boys are all asked to sell fifty boxes at two dollars apiece instead of the normal twenty-five at a dollar. And the leader of the secret society is one of the students who is pushing the sale. And he tells one studen More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 25, 2008

Jeanette rated it:

I Did not like this book at all. I had to force myself to finish it just because I hate leaving books unfinished. It is a story about a chocolate sale at a private boys prep school. The action revolves around one evil bully, an equally evil and manipulative teacher and their victim. I find it extremely unbelievable that one teenage boy could have as much power as the bully in this story does. The plot was completely ridiculous. I did not care for the theme of the book or most of the action of th More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Feb 09, 2011

One Pushy rated it:

There's a reason why teachers have been using this searingly real and powerful book to teach about morality and the perils of group think for the past 30 years. It's because The Chocolate War is an amazing story, filled with characters of variety and depth, told by an author of supreme talent.

I really enjoyed this dark look at teenage life and the cost of conscientious objection in the face of severe peer pressure. See my full review on Bewitched Bookworms. More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 05, 2011

Ted added it

Another superb, dark YAF novel from Robert Cormier. This book and I Am the Cheese are two of the coolest teen novels I've read because they don't sugarcoat or dumb down situations for teens.

In The Chocolate War, a secret society, the Vigils, are the proverbial inmates running the asylum. In this case, the bedlam takes place over Jerry Renault's freshman year at Trinity High School for boys. Jerry dares to defy the Vigils and its leader, Archie, by refusing to sell chocolates for a school fundrai More...

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Feb 02, 2009

melissa rated it:

This book was obviously not written for me, as I’m not a teenage boy. I get the conflict, the feelings and where they come from. I even found the characters more or less believable. I didn’t find the ending particularly satisfying either. In fact, I had to listen to it twice. Something about it that I can’t put my finger on is sitting wrong with me. Would I have been able to appreciate this when I was younger (and still not a boy)? Probably, but I’m not sure I would have put in the time. More...

2 comments like

Jan 05, 2009

Eileen rated it:

The reason The Chocolate War is a central novel to YA literature is it is the first YA novel to suggest that “evil might conceivably carry the day” (Cart, p.70).Goober best describes the situation at Trinity. “Look, Jerry. There’s something rotten in that school. More than rotten. He groped for the word and found it but didn’t want to use it. The word didn’t fit the surroundings, the sun and the bright October afternoon. It was a midnight word, a howling wind word.” (p. 151). Several sent More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 01, 2012

Roger rated it:

Cormier’s The Chocolate War qualifies as a YA classic, especially in relation to the metaphorical comparisons that can be drawn from the book. The story deals with the annual fundraising event of selling chocolate at Trinity High School. But the entire school functions like a micro regime. The Vigils are a group of secretive enforcers, much like a Gestapo group. All the manipulation, corruption, and blackmailing that occurs at the high school parallels the brainwashing tactics of the Nazis. The More...

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Jan 12, 2012

Rachelle rated it:

Stacks of Melting Chocolate!
A Chocolate Sale in a Catholic school starts war? Whaaaat?! The Chocolate War is a non- fiction, paperback book, written by Robert Cormier, which takes place in a Catholic School.

This book is about a boy named Jerry, who receives an assignment by a group called "The Vigils". His assignment is to refuse to sell chocolate for 10 days. But after the ten days, he starts rebelling against The Vigils and Brother Leon. He got inspired b More...

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Nov 26, 2011

Louise rated it:

A YA classic from 1974 about bullying and peer pressure. An odd perspective given by the omniscient third person narrative. Early on in the book we have insights into how hard it is for the main bully to think up new strategies to humiliate the students at the school. How he has trouble getting enough sleep at times because he lies awake thinking of ever more devious ways to inflict his treatments. I'm not sure why that is there. Our ""hero"" is Jerry, a seemingly nice kid wh More...

1 comment like

Nov 06, 2011

Alicia rated it:

Centers mainly around Jerry and his struggle with fitting in. He attends a private school and has just started his freshman year when the book opens. He goes out for football, hoping to be the quarterback though the coach says he isn’t the right body type. His mother died the spring before and his father is “sleepwalking” through life. Annually, the school has a chocolate sale to raise money and it is “voluntary.” The Vigils—a “secret” student organization that hazes others through psychological More...

0 comments like

Oct 12, 2011

Brett rated it:

The author’s purpose of this book was not direct. At times this book was funny and at other times it was serious. The book is funny when the vigils pull pranks, when Jerry tells the vigils that he doesn’t want to sell the chocolates, and when he formed a gang to rebel against the vigils to not sell the chocolates. An example of when the book gets serious is when Jerry’s mother is dead and he is going through depression. Another example is at the end of the book when the vigils decide to “t More...

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Oct 12, 2011

Ryan rated it:

In the book the "The Chocolate War", the author didn't really state his purpose but I think he was trying to tell us that life is not always fair, and the good guy doesn't always win. Two examples of when he shows this is when Jerry's mother dies and then when he chooses not to sell chocolates, the Vigils beat him up.

The major theme of this novel is that authority does not have all the answers and is often corrupt. Authorities usually only look out for themselves. A quote f More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Collin rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Sep 28, 2011

Alyssa rated it:

The Chocolate War is a fictional novel about a boy named Jerry who defies his school by refusing to sell chocolates in the school wide chocolate sell, much to the disdain of Brother Leon and Archie, the mastermind behind the bullying system in the school. The novel is dystopic and reminded me a lot of 1984. I personally loved the book. I was intrigued by the characters and chilled by many of their actions. At the end I was so engaged in what was going to happen that I couldn't stop reading. More...

0 comments like

Sep 26, 2011

Sarah rated it:

To start, the reason I'm giving this book only two stars is because I found much of its content inappropriate and offensive. I do realize such material appears and occurs in real life, but I will judge a book against my standards. So that's why it's 2/5. The book itself had a fascinating plot--it's a dark struggle and power play between a boy, a secret school society, and a teacher who takes things too far with the annual chocolate sale. At first, the book had the making of a Disney movie--a kid More...

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