The Chocolate War

Read in Arizona at the library

This book is charming and sheds a bit of light on boyhood. With sports, social situations, and girls, it is a delightful coming-of-age story. However, it also highlights how difficult it is to get out from under those in power. Power is everything. It's difficult to truly change a system and go against the current.

Quotes:
“Do I dare disturb the universe?
Yes, I do, I do. I think.
Jerry suddenly understood the poster–the solitary man on the beach standing upright and alone and unafraid, poised at the moment of making himself heard and known in the world, the universe.”

“They don't actually want you to do your own thing, not unless it's their thing too.”

A 1001 CBYMRBYGU.

Jerry Renault is a freshman at a private Catholic high school. It is chocolate time, the time in which the students are asked to sell chocolates to raise money for the school. This year, students are asked to sell more chocolate than ever and the cost of each bar is twice as much.

At Jerry's school, there is a secret group of boys who enjoy the pain of others called The Vigils. The Vigils ask Jerry to refuse to take part in the chocolate sale for ten days. Jerry complies. On the eleventh day, when Jerry is supposed to fall in line again, he suddenly decides to continue to refuse to take part in the sale.
The group dynamics in this book are fascinating. I'd love to hear what high school students would think about this book.