Monday, March 9, 2015

The Chocolate War

 Cormier, R. (1974). The chocolate war: A novel (p. 267). New York: Pantheon Books.


Characters: Jerry, Archie, Goober, Obie, Brother Leon and Emile

Theme: Education, Bullying, Violence

Summary:
In the Trinity School, Brother Leon has ordered 20,000 boxes of chocolate. That means each student needs to sell 50 boxes.  Archie helps Brother Leon sell these chocolates. Archie is a member of the Vigils, the school's pranksters and they run the school. The Vigils force everyone to sell their allotted chocolate except Jerry.  He refuses to sell and the Vigils make him the enemy. He is harassed by random prank calls and his locker gets trashed. Goober, Jerry’s friend, is assigned a prank to remove all the screws in from the furniture in room 19.

Everyone is upset with Jerry because he refuses to sell the chocolate.  Archie comes up with a raffle – Jerry vs. Emile.  Each ticket sold has a boxing move written on it. Emile is much stronger than Jerry. Brother Jacques stops the fight as Brother Leon protects Archie from getting into trouble. Jerry is badly beaten and waiting for the ambulance.  Goober waits with him and Jerry tells him not to disturb the universe.


Teachers may incorporate this book into a lesson. They can start with a discussion about courage. Then brainstorm what Jerry meant by “Do I dare disturb the universe?”  The teacher can extend asking the students if they themselves have disturbed the universe or can name an event that has. 

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