{"id":10981,"date":"2010-12-30T09:44:14","date_gmt":"2010-12-30T14:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bookdragon.si.edu\/?p=10981"},"modified":"2014-05-17T20:38:46","modified_gmt":"2014-05-18T00:38:46","slug":"the-chocolate-war-by-robert-cormier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/the-chocolate-war-by-robert-cormier\/","title":{"rendered":"The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Chocolate<\/a> Talk about testosterone gone awry: The Chocolate War<\/em> is a disturbing look at how boys \u2013 and the men from whom they are supposed to learn \u2013 mistreat, outmaneuver, and abuse one another.<\/p>\n

Jerry Renault is a new freshman at Trinity, a parochial high school led by Brother Leon while the actual headmaster is on leave due to illness. Brother Leon is a megalomaniac who clearly should not be teaching impressive young men. He usually turns a blind eye to the school gang, The Vigils, led in effect by the manipulative Archie Costello, but enlists the gang\u2019s cooperation when he decides circumstances so dictate, including the annual chocolate sales. This year\u2019s chocolate sales \u2013 leftover Mother\u2019s Day specials bought cheap to be sold with the ribbons removed \u2013 presumably serve again as a school fundraiser, but under Brother Leon\u2019s dubious leadership, the truth is clearly something otherwise.<\/p>\n

As a new-student initiation, The Vigils insist that Jerry must refuse to sell the chocolates for a certain period of time. He complies, quickly earning the growing ire of Brother Leon. When Jerry\u2019s refusal goes beyond the mandated period and he continues to ignore his expected chocolate quota, his decision pits him against The Vigils, Brother Leon, and even the majority of the (lemming-like) student body. Even his one friend abandons him in fright. The initial consequences are intimidating \u2013 ostracision at school, crank phone calls home, obscene names thrown at him \u2013 but too quickly violence proves gruesomely inevitable.<\/p>\n

Of course, the neverending question running through my own head is \u2018where are the adults?\u2019 Jerry\u2019s father is too busy mourning the premature death of his wife to even take notice of Jerry\u2019s growing injuries, while the other teachers cannot stand up to the evil that leads them.<\/p>\n

That the late Robert Cormier<\/a>\u2019s writing can actually nauseate with its brutal machinations underscores its three decade-plus staying power. It\u2019s a nightmarish reminder that unchallenged authority (think Nazis, think ethnic cleansing, think even media bullying) should never to be taken lightly.<\/p>\n

Readers<\/strong>: Young Adult<\/p>\n

Published<\/strong>: 1974<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> Talk about testosterone gone awry: The Chocolate War<\/em> is a disturbing look at how boys \u2013 and the men from whom they are supposed to learn \u2013 mistreat, outmaneuver, and abuse one another.<\/p>\n

Jerry Renault is a new freshman at Trinity, a parochial high school led by Brother Leon while the actual headmaster is on leave due to illness. Brother Leon is a megalomaniac who clearly should not be teaching impressive young men. He usually turns a blind eye to the school gang, The Vigils, led in effect by the manipulative Archie Costello, but enlists the gang\u2019s cooperation when he decides circumstances so dictate, including the annual chocolate sales. This year\u2019s chocolate sales \u2013 leftover Mother\u2019s Day specials bought cheap to be sold with the ribbons removed \u2013 presumably serve again as a school fundraiser, but under Brother Leon\u2019s dubious leadership, the truth is clearly something otherwise.<\/p>\n

As a new-student initiation, The Vigils insist that Jerry must refuse to sell the chocolates for a certain period of time. He complies, quickly earning the growing ire of Brother Leon. When Jerry\u2019s refusal goes beyond the mandated period and he continues to ignore his expected chocolate quota, his decision pits him against The Vigils, Brother Leon, and even the majority of the (lemming-like) student body. Even his one friend abandons him in fright. The initial consequences are intimidating \u2013 ostracision at school, crank phone calls home, obscene names thrown at him \u2013 but too quickly violence proves gruesomely inevitable.<\/p>\n

Of course, the neverending question running through my own head is \u2018where are the adults?\u2019 Jerry\u2019s father is too busy mourning the premature death of his wife to even take notice of Jerry\u2019s growing injuries, while the other teachers cannot stand up to the evil that leads them.<\/p>\n

That the late Robert Cormier<\/a>\u2019s writing can actually nauseate with its brutal machinations underscores its three decade-plus staying power. It\u2019s a nightmarish reminder that unchallenged authority (think Nazis, think ethnic cleansing, think even media bullying) should never to be taken lightly.<\/p>\n

Readers<\/strong>: Young Adult<\/p>\n

Published<\/strong>: 1974<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,6,60,31],"tags":[6608,74,1474,58,5680,11,39,5681,79],"class_list":["post-10981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-audio","category-fiction","category-nonethnic-specific","category-young-adult-readers","tag-bookdragon","tag-bullying","tag-chocolate-war","tag-coming-of-age","tag-frank-muller","tag-friendship","tag-parent-child-relationship","tag-robert-cormier","tag-school-challenges"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Chocolate War by Robert Cormier - BookDragon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/the-chocolate-war-by-robert-cormier\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier - BookDragon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Talk about testosterone gone awry: The Chocolate War is a disturbing look at how boys \u2013 and the men from whom they are supposed to learn \u2013 mistreat, outmaneuver, and abuse one another. Jerry Renault is a new freshman at Trinity, a parochial high school led by Brother Leon while the actual headmaster is on leave due to illness. Brother Leon is a megalomaniac who clearly should not be teaching impressive young men. He usually turns a blind eye to the school gang, The Vigils, led in effect by the manipulative Archie Costello, but enlists the gang\u2019s cooperation when he decides circumstances so dictate, including the annual chocolate sales. This year\u2019s chocolate sales \u2013 leftover Mother\u2019s Day specials bought cheap to be sold with the ribbons removed \u2013 presumably serve again as a school fundraiser, but under Brother Leon\u2019s dubious leadership, the truth is clearly something otherwise. As a new-student initiation, The Vigils insist that Jerry must refuse to sell the chocolates for a certain period of time. He complies, quickly earning the growing ire of Brother Leon. When Jerry\u2019s refusal goes beyond the mandated period and he continues to ignore his expected chocolate quota, his decision pits him against The Vigils, Brother Leon, and even the majority of the (lemming-like) student body. Even his one friend abandons him in fright. The initial consequences are intimidating \u2013 ostracision at school, crank phone calls home, obscene names thrown at him \u2013 but too quickly violence proves gruesomely inevitable. Of course, the neverending question running through my own head is \u2018where are the adults?\u2019 Jerry\u2019s father is too busy mourning the premature death of his wife to even take notice of Jerry\u2019s growing injuries, while the other teachers cannot stand up to the evil that leads them. That the late Robert Cormier\u2019s writing can actually nauseate with its brutal machinations underscores its three decade-plus staying power. It\u2019s a nightmarish reminder that unchallenged authority (think Nazis, think ethnic cleansing, think even media bullying) should never to be taken lightly. Readers: Young Adult Published: 1974\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/the-chocolate-war-by-robert-cormier\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BookDragon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-12-30T14:44:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-05-18T00:38:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2010\/12\/Chocolate-War.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"451\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SmithsonianAPA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier - BookDragon","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/the-chocolate-war-by-robert-cormier\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier - BookDragon","og_description":"Talk about testosterone gone awry: The Chocolate War is a disturbing look at how boys \u2013 and the men from whom they are supposed to learn \u2013 mistreat, outmaneuver, and abuse one another. Jerry Renault is a new freshman at Trinity, a parochial high school led by Brother Leon while the actual headmaster is on leave due to illness. Brother Leon is a megalomaniac who clearly should not be teaching impressive young men. He usually turns a blind eye to the school gang, The Vigils, led in effect by the manipulative Archie Costello, but enlists the gang\u2019s cooperation when he decides circumstances so dictate, including the annual chocolate sales. This year\u2019s chocolate sales \u2013 leftover Mother\u2019s Day specials bought cheap to be sold with the ribbons removed \u2013 presumably serve again as a school fundraiser, but under Brother Leon\u2019s dubious leadership, the truth is clearly something otherwise. As a new-student initiation, The Vigils insist that Jerry must refuse to sell the chocolates for a certain period of time. He complies, quickly earning the growing ire of Brother Leon. 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