Jerry is a smart freshman at a Catholic high school that finds himself coping with life after his mother's death. A secret society on campus requires random students to complete pranks of various severity levels within the school. Apparently, if you don't abide by the tasks assigned to you, the consequences can be traumatizing. The school's new headmaster is challenged to sell the most amount of chocolate for a school fundraiser, and is even plagued by the society's pranks. Jerry is required to not sell chocolate for the first ten days of the fundraiser. The headmaster impatiently waits the ten days, but then Jerry is put in another position by the secret society to not sell chocolate. The book ends in a climatic scene where the secret society, along with the headmaster, create a schoolwide attack on Jerry where he is left with so many internal injuries that he needs the ambulance.
The most powerful line to me is when Jerry brings up the note left in his locker that says, "Don't disturb the universe. It's not worth it." It seemed so crazy that one society had so much power over a school- all the way up to the administration level. Even when you have something simple like chocolate fundraiser for a school, there is still a system in place. We teach our students and young readers to stand up for what they believe in, but to what end is it always worth it?
Cormier, R. (1974). The chocolate war. New York: Pantheon Books.
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