The Chocolate War

I read this book during my school days, which we are often told are the best of our lives. I enjoyed school, overall, but did encounter more than my fair share of bullies and vindictive teachers. Reading in the school library became my favourite escape, and I devoured this book in one lengthy sitting. I was fascinated and appalled in equal measure by secret society The Vandals, who made the kids at my school look like rank amateurs! After reading this book, the reader is left shell-shocked and wondering if it’s better to comply or to ‘disturb the universe’ as… show more.

If you haven’t read The Chocolate War by age 25, there may be something seriously wrong with you. Jerry Renault is a regular kid, struggling through adolescence at his Catholic high school; for reasons both simple and complex, hinted at but never fully explained, he refuses to sell chocolate bars for his school’s annual fundraiser. He is then targeted by a teacher and a secret society headed by a sinister sociopath. An all-out war is waged on three fronts: between Jerry and his conscience, the school at large, and the secret society. The brutal ending upset many readers (particularly parents… show more.