Christina Reviews *The Chocolate War* by Robert Cormier

         “Know what, Archie?”
         “What?”
         “Life is sad, sometimes.”
         That was one of the great things about Archie, you could say things like that.
         “Life is shit,” Archie said  (Cormier, 17).”


           In a school where The Vigils rule with silent authority, it is a punishable offense to have a mind of one’s own.

          In Robert Cormier’s memorable young adult novel, an all-boy’s school is thrown into instant turmoil when Jerry Renault is given a secret assignment by The Vigils to refuse to sell chocolates for the yearly chocolate drive.  At first, Jerry follows orders.  But as time goes by, he decides that maybe he doesn’t want to play by the rules after all.  The only problem is, nobody defies the great Archie Costello with impunity.

          The thing I loved most about this book was, of course, the character of Archie.  Out of all of the young adult fiction I read as a kid---and I never read anything normal like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter---Archie Costello stands out as one of the most memorable villains in the genre.  But in addition to the character of Archie, the thing I loved most about this book was the fact that the story was so  uncompromising.  Which is why I was disappointed in the way that the movie adaptation changed the ending so as to make it more palatable.