The Chocolate War

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Summary: The Chocolate War Is a Thriller
Review: The Chocolate War is a great novel because of the suspense, action, and unpredictability. The novel has action on every page. Whether it is Archie Costello, the assigner of the group called The Vigils, intimidating a student to do something wrong, or two students fighting, the book is always action-packed. The Vigils have more power and influence on the school than the brothers who run the school. Archie Costello, the unofficial Vigil leader who has been the assigner for three years, gives out assignments like unscrewing all the screws in a classroom. The book is suspenseful when Jerry is trying to decide whether or not to sell the chocolates, which is a school tradition. The book is unpredictable because the ending is not what a reader usually expects out of an ending of a novel. The suspense, action, and unpredictability will keep you reading. You will never want to put this great book down.

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Summary: A novel that is too cruel
Review: The Chocolate War is not an interesting novel at all. I found myself not even paying attention to what I was reading because it was so boring. The novel is about a kid named Jerry who refuses to sell chocolates for his all-boys prep school over and over again. The one interesting part is when Jerry gets beaten up by some kids who want him to sell the chocolates. The novel is also hard to follow in some chapters. It skips to perspectives of six or seven characters. I became very confused in these parts, and I had to read them over and over again to understand them. The book was also very cruel, and I did not understand how people could have the personalities that Robert Cormier gave them in The Chocolate War. There was this one kid named Archie who is very cruel to Jerry, and it seems as if he has no heart. I would not recommend this book to any younger children or to people who cannot stand a lot of cruelity. I would recommend this book to people who can sit through the boring parts of a novel to get to the more interesting parts.

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Summary: Easy to put down
Review: The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier, is hard to get into. It has a poor plot and skips around too much. It gives great detail on topics irrelevant to the story line. Cormier goes off on long drawn-out accounts of characters' personal lives and histories. This novel is boring, monotonous, and altogether poorly written. For some odd reason Cormier was compelled to include more about the lusts of a fat, teenage boy than major issues concerning the plot. Also, this novel has no real age-appropriate level. It combines mature topics with elementary school grammar. Cormier tried to add a realistic air to an improbable setting and did a poor job of it. He used a clever little ending which completes the book in what would be the middle of any normal novel. The book leaves you not wanting to read more, just wanting to forget what you just read. I could hardly recommend this book. It is worth neither your time nor money.

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Summary: Daring to Disturb the World
Review: The novel, The Chocolate War, is a very confusing novel. It doesn't have an actual climax and it is hard to follow what is going on. Most of the novel is about the Vigils, a group of rebellious boys at an all-boys catholic school called Trinity. The Vigils give assignments to the boys to do things such as unscrew all the screws in a classroom just enough so that the next day the room falls apart. The assignments are given by the group's unofficial leader, Archie Costello. One of the assignments is given to a boy named Jerry Renault, a freshman at Trinity. The assignment is to refuse to sell the chocolates for one week at Trinity's annual chocolate sale. When Jerry continues not to sell the chocolates after the assignment is over, he is in trouble with the Vigils and the teachers at Trinity. He is forced to defend what he believes in against everyone he knows. This book is very monotonous because most of the book is about Jerry's problems, which makes the book very depressing. Many of the actions of the students and the teachers are very unrealistic, which also makes the book pointless. There are too many points of view in each chapter which makes it hard to follow. The book also has vulgar language in it which make it not suitable for younger children. I would not recommend this book to anyone unless he or she is looking for a depressing novel.

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Summary: This novel sends off negative messages.
Review: The Chocolate War, written by Robert Cormier, is an interesting novel. There are three main characters. The first one is a freshman named Jerry who is trying to find out what his purpose is in life. He becomes an outcast because he refuses to sell chocolates for a school fundraiser. Archie, a tough senior, decides to make Jerry's life miserable after he finds out that Jerry isn't selling the chocolates. Brother Leon is the acting principal of the school. He thinks that Jerry's refusal is just an assignment, or "dare," given out by the Vigils, a group in school, run by Archie, that causes trouble. Brother Leon somehow forces kids into doing things, and he tries to do that to Jerry, but it does not work. Jerry thinks that he has the school on his side until Archie comes into the picture. Jerry suddenly has the whole school against him and he must learn the hard ways of dealing with life, without anyone on his side. Although Cormier has an odd and complex way of writing how the characters feel, he gets the point across. Cormier does a beautiful job of opening one's eye's to the negative aspects of life as an outcast. Even though Cormier does a great job of conveying the message, it is a negative one and I would not recommend the novel.

Rating:
Summary: The Chocolate War, an interesting novel
Review: The Chocolate War is a novel about a boy named Jerry who decides to rebel against his school's annual chocolate sale. His school is an all-boys catholic school called Trinity. At Trinity there is a secret society named the Vigils. Archie Costello and Carter head the Vigils. Carter is the president and Archie is the assigner. The assigner gives out assignments to random kids at Trinity for the purpose of controlling the school and causing trouble all at the same time. This book is not a fast paced book with lots of adventure, but it does have a good concept. I recommend this book to all people over the age of 13 because it is graphic and has too much detail. With so much detail you need a lot of patience to read this novel.

Rating:
Summary: A change from the usual
Review: The novel, The Chocolate War, is an enjoyable change from typical reading. Robert Cormier, who wrote The Chocolate War, sometimes tells the reader stories that seem to have little relevance to the novel's plot. Yet all of these stories lead up to an unpredictable climax. The novel, which tells the story of Jerry Renault, a freshman at an all boys Catholic school. Jerry has to learn to stand up for himself against the whole school, which includes a powerful gang called The Vigils. Despite orders to participate in the chocolate sale, which serves as a fundraiser for the school, Jerry continues to not sell chocolates. Even the acting head of the school, Brother Leon, is behind defeating Jerry. At the beginning of Jerry's dilemma the school starts to follow his example. However, The Vigils have promised to help Brother Leon sell chocolates. The Vigils torment Jerry by calling him on the phone and hanging up, and by having people beat him up. The school turns against Jerry, and he is faced with a major problem--whether or not to be like everyone else or continue to be different. This novel would be a wise choice for anyone is in need of a change from the usual.

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Summary: half and half thoughts for the Chocolate War
Review: I have mixed feelings about the novel, The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier. I disliked the beginning of the book because there is too much unnecessary description about the characters sexual thought's. For example, there are too many instances when Archie the head of The Vigils, a gang, tries to blackmail Emile, a trouble maker, with embarrassing pictures. The middle is helpful but it is too repetitive about the chocolate sale. The information about the characters helped me understand the plot of the beginning of the book. I learned that Archie is the head honcho of the school and bosses around all of the kids. A part in the book that is repetitive is when Brother Leon, one of the teachers, repeatedly asks the kids to sell chocolates and they all say "I will". I liked the ending of the book because it is different from most endings and not what I expected. I advise you to read this book if you like surprises.

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Summary: Chocolate war is a war you should go through
Review: The Chocolate War is a great novel. I liked it because there is a lot of description. However, some of the description is not needed. Jerry, one of the main characters, tries out for the school's football team. He goes to Trinity, an all-boys' catholic. Archie is the head of the Vigils. They are a group of kids who control the school. Archie gives out assignments to the kids in the school The assignments are terrible jobs. For example, a freshman student, called the Goober gets one assignment which is to unscrew all of the desks and chairs in room 19. There is a lot of action in The Chocolate War. The whole book is about how Jerry has an assignment to not sell chocolate for ten days during the chocolate sale in school. Some of the kids in the school start to stop selling chocolate too. This is bad because then the school might not make enough money to cover the price of the chocolate. The book is also great because some of the parts of the book caught my attention. For example I found it exciting when Emile Janza beat up Jerry because it was an action packed scene. If I had to rate this book from best to worst, one to five, it would get a great three on the Goldman Star-O-Meter. I recommend this to all kids older than 13.

Rating:
Summary: If you want to read a bore, read The Chocolate War
Review: The Chocolate War is a horrible novel. All that the author, Robert Cormier, writes about is Jerry Renault, a freshman at Trinity High School, and how he does not sell the chocolates that everyone in the school is supposed to sell. Trinity is an all-boys, catholic high school. Every year the kids have to sell fifty boxes of chocolates. This year Archie Costello, the leader of the Vigils, gives Jerry an assignment to not sell the chocolates for ten days. The Vigils is a group of kids who give out assignments, like this one, to other kids. However, Jerry goes beyond the assignment, and after ten days he still refuses to sell any chocolates. The novel goes on and on about this. The Chocolate War has some gruesome parts in it. The author goes into detail about the different fights that the kids at Trinity get into. He talks about all of the blood and broken bones, and it is not necessary for all of that to be in the novel. A little bit of that is okay, but the author writes too much about it. The Chocolate War is also confusing. Some chapters go from one subject to another without finishing the first one. In chapter thirty-five there are six pages. In those six pages the author writes about six subjects. He does not go into enough detail about each one, but instead he writes very little about them. However, in other parts The Chocolate War is too detailed. In one part, Jerry hears people outside calling his name. The author then writes about Jerry's childhood, which is not needed. The author needs to be less detailed and more concise. The Chocolate War is an overall appalling book. It is too gruesome, confusing, and detailed. The novel is just plain monotonous. If you like to read novels like this, then The Chocolate War is the book for you.