The Chocolate War (M Books)

The Chocolate War (M Books)

By Robert Cormier

1 rating 2 reviews 5 followers
Interest LevelReading LevelReading A-ZATOSWord Count
Grades 9 - 12Grades 3 - 6Z+5.451115
Stunned by his mother's recent death and appalled by the way his father sleepwalks through life, Jerry Renault, a New England high school student, ponders the poster in his locker-Do I dare disturb the universe?

Part of his universe is Archie Costello, leader of a secret school societ-the Virgils-and master of intimidation.  Archie himself is intimidated by a cool, ambitious teacher into having the Virgils spearhead the annual fund-raising event-a chocolate sale.  When Jerry refuses to be bullied into selling chocolates, he becomes a hero, but his defiance is a threat to Archie, the Virgils, and the school.  In the inevitable showdown, Archie's skill at intimidation turns Jerry from hero to outcast, to victim, leaving him alone and terribly vulnerable.
Publisher: Puffin Books
ISBN-13: 9780141324838
ISBN-10: 014132483X
Published on 8/28/2008
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 496

Book Reviews (2)

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This book is about a highschool boy named Jerry Renault transferred to a high school called Trinity. The main characters include Jerry and Archie. Jerry is the new student of Trinity. Archie is the chief of the secret organization in Trinity. Archie sends people out to do missions for the secret organization. When the secret organization is on a mission, they use a black box which contains black and white dice. If Archie picks the white dice, he doesn’t have to do the mission on his own; If Archie picks up the black dice, he has to do the mission himself. The most intense part of the story is when Jerry saw a sentence in his locker, saying “Do I dare to disturb the universe?” When I am reading this, I wondered what Jerry will do, and how he would react to it. I chose this book because the title of this book is very interesting. I have no idea what the title “the chocolate war” means. I thought the book was about people fighting with chocolate. I will recommend this book for my friends because this book reflected many things in real life, such as bully and peer isolation.

This book is an unflinching look into the inner cruelty dwelling behind a much more innocent looking all boys Catholic prep school. The Vigils, the schools cruel and hazing-prone secret society, hands out "assignments" to the other students, specifically freshman. When one freshman dares to defy the Vigils he soon discovers the dashingly horrid, yet sweetly disguised, power of the Vigils.