Plot Summary: Jerry Renault is a normal kid, just starting his high school career. A fair athlete and a average scholar, Jerry should by rites have a typical high school experience. The last thing on Jerry’s mind is causing a stir, especially over the Trinity High School’s chocolate sale. When the school’s most powerful secret society gives Jerry an assignment that insults the administration and calls Jerry’s reputation into question, the true colors of Jerry’s peers and elders are exposed. With Jerry’s quiet rebellion causing untold ripples across Trinity’s hierarchy, he must listen to the litany of voices questioning and condemning his actions. When the universe dares Jerry to change it, he must understand what it is he’s rebelling against before he can change anything.
Critical Evaluation: In The Chocolate War, Robert Cormier asks his readers to consider a world where good is not rewarded and evil is not punished. Cormier presents us with some characters who we believe to be inherently “good” (Goober, and, to some extent, Jerry), and characters who are bad (Brother Leon and Archie). In a typical (especially for the 70s) young adult novel, there is at least some indication that a person is rewarded for behavior generally considered well-intentioned or rooted in goodness. In The Chocolate War there is no such promise. The one legitimately “good” character, The Goober, is effectively silenced by the novel’s end, screaming for the brutality to end as his voice is overwhelmed by the cheering masses. The character with the most indefensible behavior is Brother Leon, who abuses power, humiliates his students, and manipulates his surroundings in order to get what he wants by any means. Brother Leon escapes the story unscathed, exceeding his goals and wishes, and quietly enjoying the brutality he has encouraged. Teen readers will be both discomfited and … by reading something many of them have secretly believed all along.
Reader’s Annotation: Does Jerry Renault dare to disturb the universe? When his refusal to sell chocolates at his school’s annual sale exposes the cruel underbelly of Trinity, he will find out if he has what it takes to make a difference.
Author Information: “Robert Cormier was born and has always lived in Leominster, Massachusets. He grew up there, went to school there, courted and married there, and raised four children there.
Cormier, who was a newspaper reporter and columnist for 30 years was inspired by news events and, in some cases, by circumstances in his own life for the basis of his plots. “I take real people and put them in extraordinary situations,” he said in an interview in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL. “I’m very much interested in intimidation. And the way people manipulate other people. and the obvious abuse of authority.”
Robert Cormier began writing, he said,” in the seventh grade… I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t trying to get something down on paper.” And it has been said of him that he was in love with his typewriter. He has won many prizes for his journalism and his novels for young adults. Included in his awards is the Margaret A. Edwards Award of the Young Adult Services Division of the American Library Association. This award is presented in recognition of those authors who provide young adults with a window through which they can view the world, and which will help them to grow and understand themselves and their role in society.”
This information was excerpted from material provided by the publicity division of Delacorte Press.”
Genre: Realistic fiction
Curriculum Ties: Anti-authoritarianism, Bullying
Booktalk Ideas: Disturbing the universe, High School is hard, No happy endings
Reading Level/Interest Level: Grade 6/Grades 9-12
Challenge Issues and Plans: This book contains strong language, sexual references, graphic violence and portrays religious corruption and the abuse of power.
If this book was challenged:
- I would ensure that I am familiar with the material, including any part that might cause concern to parents/patrons.
- I would actively listen to the concerns of the parent/patron in an effort to fully understand their point of view. I would ask clarifying questions and avoid any judgmental language.
- I would offer my reasons for including the material in a non-confrontational but matter-of-fact manner.
- I would offer a list of reviews and awards that informed my decision to add the material to the collection.
- I would draw the parent/patron’s attention to ALA’s Library Bill of Right.
- I would have handy for perusal my library’s collection policy.
- If the parent/patron wished to continue with the challenge, I would offer an official challenge form that would be submitted to the library’s (or school’s) board of directors.
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