Jerry Renault is a freshman at Trinity School, an all-boys Catholic jock school who bucks the system by refusing to sell chocolates; his life is unhappy now that his mother is dead and his father is depressed and emotionally distant and Jerry refuses to sell because he is inspired by a poster in his locker that asks “Do I dare disturb the universe?” Although Jerry initially refuses to sell because the Vigils, a group of bullies unofficially sanctioned by Brother Leon, the new interim director, tells him he must refuse, Jerry continues to refuse even after the Vigils tell him to accept. Leon uses the Vigils to isolate Jerry, by then becoming a local hero and overnight Jerry turns form local hero to pariah. No happy ending here, the Vigils continue to harass and isolate Jerry culminating in a public fight between Jerry and the school’s big physical bully, Emile, where students decide who hits whom with which punch. Jerry is badly beaten as Brother Leon watches and he learns, not only that you pay an enormous price for universe disturbing, but also that the adults around him are hypocrites; A dark and powerful book, The Chocolate War will appeal to many teens who often feel powerless and often seem to have an innate ability to sniff out hypocrisy, I loved this book and would recommend it to any middle or high school student individually or as a group. It would generate some interesting and honest discussion about issues important to teens that most of us forget as we become the adults and gains some semblance of control over our lives. This is the kind of book that would have spoken to me like a bible if I had read it when I was young.
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