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Book Reviews of The Chocolate War

The Chocolate War
The Chocolate War
Author: Robert Cormier
ISBN-13: 9780394828053
ISBN-10: 0394828054
Publication Date: 3/12/1974
Pages: 264
Reading Level: Young Adult
Rating:
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 11

3.5 stars, based on 11 ratings
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Book Type: Hardcover
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

3 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

listen avatar reviewed The Chocolate War on + 24 more book reviews
Trinity School is having a chocolate sale but the implications go far beyond the selling of sweets to raise money. The Vigils that run Trinity has anded with the power hungry Brother Leon to make it a record breaking fundraiser. And for Jerry to resist the Vigils could cost him his life.
Intimidation at a prep school, good and evil in high school - good does not always win out in the end - the themes of adolescence in a 1974 novel that still applies.
GeniusJen avatar reviewed The Chocolate War on + 5322 more book reviews
Reviewed by Taylor Rector for TeensReadToo.com

This is a horrifying story about a boy's school where there is literally a chocolate war.

A secret society of boys, which the administration has always turned their back on, takes over a school chocolate sale. The boys are all asked to sell fifty boxes at two dollars apiece instead of the normal twenty-five at a dollar. And the leader of the secret society is one of the students who is pushing the sale. And he tells one student to refuse to sell the
chocolate for ten days, but on the eleventh he is to take them. And he doesn't.

This book is interesting, and has a lot of twists and turns. I can see why a lot of schools use this book to teach with. There are a lot of moral lessons and many things that can be learned. I enjoyed reading this, and would recommend it to anyone who has ever had bully problems.
reviewed The Chocolate War on + 168 more book reviews
I found this book surprisingly violent and graphic in places. And I thought the themes of being bullied and singled out are as timeless and relevant today as ever. However, at the same time, I found the premise of a battle of wills over selling chocolate for their school, a bit outdated. I'd hoped that The Chocolate War would capture me as much as The Outsiders did, but it just didn't measure up quite so high. But it's a worthy read.