The Chocolate War (Readers Circle) | Robert Cormier | Warning to Teens Welcome to America

The Chocolate War (Readers Circle) | Robert Cormier | Fighting the good fight

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The Chocolate War ...

	The Chocolate War (Readers Circle) Robert Cormier Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2004 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 376 reviews view larger image
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IN 1974, AFTER SUFFERING rejections from seven major publishers, The Chocolate War made its debut. An uncompromising portrait of conformity and corruption, it quickly became a bestselling?and provocative?classic for young adults.

?Masterfully structured and rich in theme; the action is well crafted, well timed, suspenseful.??The New York Times Book Review

?The characterizations of all the boys are superb.??School Library Journal, Starred

?Compellingly immediate. . . . Readers will respect the uncompromising ending.??Kirkus Reviews, Starred

An ALA Best Books for Young Adults

A School Library Journal Best Books of the Year

A Kirkus Reviews Choice

A New York Times Outstanding Books of the Year

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Warning to Teens Welcome to America

Brilliant & disturbing warning of the horrors of American life.

Yes, horrors.

Should be read by all thoughtful teens.

Fighting the good fight

Hyperboles, symbolism, style, point of view, etc.
Many young people do not care...but after 8 years teaching 8th grade, as well as reading the book myself for the first time in 1989, the same age as my current students, the book changed me. Not back then, I merely worshipped the words, that gorgeous writing style characteristic of Cormier, blending splendid imagery, realistic, simple language, and vibrant sensory detail with a dark tone of corrupt despairity that leaves the reader to question whether or not good exists anywhere in this world, an all too real world, in which we expect our young people to be as "conscientious" and "respectful" and "vanilla" as kids were when people trusted community with little reservation: religious figures,policemen, doctors, firemen, teachers, etc. Should our children harbor a similar sense of complacency? What shall they do in regard to "respecting authority" when they witness countless acts of violence and cruelty in the media? All they CAN DO is supress fear and act as if they don't care. How does a young person find her/his place in the universe without disturbing it? A personal revolution is essential for one to discover, process, and begin to develop sense of self and a reason to just be...
I wrote to an earlier poseter that...
Cormier didn't get it backward; however, your questions and comments are so literal, you may have missed the point. "Fighting the good fight" IS important for students to discuss; I have yet to meet a person, young or old, who can't relate to this theme in some way. Additionally, I haven't found a novel that demonstrates with such raw vulnerability the possible repurcussions when one does not choose her/his battles wisely? Jerry wasn't fighting for chocolate, but rather relied on the experience OF FEELING SOMETHING, other than dullness and pain. Otherwise, we teach students to later view satires like "The Lottery" with a literal lense, and before we know it, they develop "blind faith" and unswerving obedience to authority even when it defies Western, Eastern, and personal morality. Such scapegoating and cowardice lead to the Holocaust...
As a teacher, I exist to witness one more student recognize what it's worth to sense the difference, that brief moment when one must decide whether to persist in the fight or humbly seek advice from an adult who is WORTH emulating, and then walk away...bones intact. My students don't want Jerry's fate. And they appreciate a good tragic hero.

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Chocolate War

The book arrived in good time and was in good condition. I liked the book but the only reason I read it was to see why it is protested every school year by over sensitive parents. It is a book that even now can relate to pre-teen/teen boys.

Catcher in the Rye meets the Lords of Discipline - Great Audio Version

Robert Cormier's cynical, sardonic, nihilistic language in the Chocolate War evokes Catcher in Rye. The story itself shares many of the same tensions and violence of Pat Conroy's Lords of Discipline. This is beyond a young reader's book. It has an edgy tension that will captivate all generations. Jerry Renault is a fine protagonist, somehow winning in spirit, even in despair. Archie Costello is an equally compelling villain - somehow apathetic and resigned, even in victory.

I listened to the Chocolate War unabridged on CD, narrated by George Guidall. Guidall gives a commanding and forceful performance, bringing tension and teenage fragility to all the fine characters.

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