About this title: Trinity School, a Catholic boys' boarding school, is ruled by a secret and cruel society called the Vigils, which is headed by a bully named Archie Costello. When the school holds it's annual fund-raiser selling chocolates, new student Jerry Renault is ordered by the Vigils to not participate. This action incurs the wrath of Brother Leon, the school's acting headmaster. Later, when the Vigils order Jerry to take part in the sale, he still refuses to do so. Will Jerry's independent spirit put him in grave danger?
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Description: Fair. No dust jacket as issued. Light edge wear to soft cover. Page tanning from age. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 272 p. Audience: Children/juvenile; Young adult. read more
Description: Very Good. 0440944597 Great condition paperback book, 1974 edition with child in football uniform on front cover, clean pages, mild creases to spine, some edge/corner rubs, this book is GREAT! Shop & Save With US. read more
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Library discard with expected stickers, stamps & card pocket; cover wear with some creases; pages appear unmarked, lightly tanned. Audience: Children/juvenile; Young adult. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Laurel Leaf, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780440944591ISBN:0440944597
Description: Good. 0440944597 Mass market paperback, previously read used book in good condition, varying degrees of shelf wear, some spine creases, m...02607869 _ read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Laurel Leaf, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780440944591ISBN:0440944597
Description: Good. 0440944597 Mass market paperback, previously read used book in good condition, varying degrees of shelf wear, some spine creases, m...02607821 _ read more
Description: Very good. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 272 p. Intended for a juvenile audience. Intended for a young adult/teenage audience. Very good read more
Description: Very good. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 272 p. Intended for a juvenile audience. Intended for a young adult/teenage audience. Very good read more
Description: Good. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 272 p. Intended for a juvenile audience. Intended for a young adult/teenage audience. read more
Description: Good. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 272 p. Intended for a juvenile audience. Intended for a young adult/teenage audience. read more
Description: Good. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 272 p. Intended for a juvenile audience. Intended for a young adult/teenage audience. read more
Description: Good. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 272 p. Intended for a juvenile audience. Intended for a young adult/teenage audience. read more
Description: Very good. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 272 p. Intended for a juvenile audience. Intended for a young adult/teenage audience. Very good read more
Description: Very good. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 272 p. Intended for a juvenile audience. Intended for a young adult/teenage audience. Very good read more
Description: Very good. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 272 p. Intended for a juvenile audience. Intended for a young adult/teenage audience. Very good read more
Description: Very good. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 272 p. Intended for a juvenile audience. Intended for a young adult/teenage audience. Very good read more
Description: Very good. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 272 p. Intended for a juvenile audience. Intended for a young adult/teenage audience. Very good read more
Description: Very good. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 272 p. Intended for a juvenile audience. Intended for a young adult/teenage audience. Very good read more
Description: Very good. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 272 p. Intended for a juvenile audience. Intended for a young adult/teenage audience. Very good read more
"Dark. Depressing. Complex. Unnerving. Eye-opening. Violent. Uncomfortable. Not the words I thought I would be using to describe a book with the word "chocolate" in the title. My first encounter with a Robert Cormier novel made me grateful that I haven't read any of his novels in the past and hesitant about reading others in the future. Although I consider Cormier a great writer, with fantastic character development, powerful descriptions, and many other literary attributes, I discovered through reading The Chocolate War that I am not a fan of the "bleak" novel, which he played a key role in developing.
The Chocolate War is the story of Jerry, a student at Trinity High School, a Catholic school for all boys. The book starts out with Jerry getting beat up at football practice and continues with his experiences as he tries to resist the Vigils, a gang at Trinity high led by a boy named Archie. As the story progresses, we learn that Archie and the Virgils have control of everyone in the school because no one is brave enough to stand up to them. When Jerry resists them by refusing to sell the school's chocolates even after they insist that he does, Jerry finds himself as the object of many cruel pranks set up by the Vigils. They even go so far as to call his house several times a day, beat him up after school, and finally, trick him into participating in a boxing match with the school's bully. In this boxing match, however, the student body gets to call the shots and the two contestants have to do whatever the students tell them. Jerry ends up getting beat nearly to death as the entire student body, including the head master of the school, watch and cheer from the sidelines.
While this novel is deeply emotional and gets right to the root of what many adolescents face with their teachers, parents and peers, I would not recommend it to just any reader. In fact, due to some questionable content and the exposure to the idea that there is no hope in life, I would never recommend this novel to a young reader. I think it is better suited for an adult who can handle the content and emotional affect."
"Jerry Renault, our protagonist is almost murdered in the process of trying out for the high school football team. He does not go to any regular high school, but a Private All-Male Catholic School. As the school is run by a corrupt monk: Brother Leon, and a gang: The Vigils, the boys attending the school are bullied into selling 50 boxes each this year to earn money for the school. But, Jerry, as assigned by the Vigils, refuses to sell the chocolates. And thus begins his tragic rise and fall. Did I mention he's still suffering from the recent death of his mother?
The book is undoubtedly extremely well-written. Cormier employs amazingly detailed descriptions and beautiful imagery that suck you into his universe. However, the reality that smacks you right in the face upon entering only becomes more and more painful as you continue to read. Is this book worth reading? Yes and No. It really depends on what kind of content material you can handle. If reading about masturbation bothers you, then don't bother. Just know if you do venture to experience this novel, there will not be a happy ending,as is common among Robert Cormier books."
Robert Cormier's, The Chocolate War, is a story of an all boys Catholic High School led academically by a corrupt priest, Leon, and led socially by a corrupt group of boys called the Vigils. With the annual chocolate sale coming up Leon is worried that all twenty-thousand boxes of chocolates might not get sold. All the boys are afraid of him and subsequently promise to sell fifty boxes of chocolate a piece...except for Jerry, who refuses. Though bullied, revered, and punished for his choice he maintains his actions to show that personal choice is always an option, even in a place like high school. While the book may sound mundane, it is anything but. There is evil in the school and in the power of the priest and the Vigils. The story is written in nitty-gritty way to describe the baseness of the school and the boys that are a part of it. I was repulsed in parts, as there is no lack of masturbation in the story, but intrigued at others. Cormier brings up a lot of thought provoking issues and questions through the thoughts and actions of his characters. What is good? What is evil? When are risks worth the consequences? Can an established system ever be broken? This is love/hate type of book that I would say is only suitable for mature teens 16 years old and above."
"Genre/Category: bleak young adult/realism/defying the system/peer pressure/good vs. evil
Summary: Jerry Renault enters his freshman year at Trinity burdened with his mother's death from cancer, his father's robotic and purposeless existence, and his own desire to become more than he is. His chance to find purpose and move beyond his threatening sorrow comes with the school's annual Chocolate Sale. Tied up in the very middle of the school's bureaucracy, Jerry becomes an iron rod for some to cling to and a target for some to gain ground in power and prestige. The stories of the boys whose lives intermingle with Jerry's create a realistic perspective of humanity, perhaps unsheathing some of the nitty, gritty that is so well-covered in other young adult novels. As always, Cormier skirts nothing and addresses difficult issues head on.
Personally, this novel stuck with me for days. It required major reflection for me to sort through my feelings about the characters and the issues that they raised. The only thing I personally disliked was the mention of masturbation several times in the novel, almost ruined the whole book, but it again relates the idea of bleak realism in Cormier's novels: nothing is left out. Be prepared for a thought-provoking, shocking novel about real life."
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